Lost
by Sapphire93
Summary: The turtles are faced with a difficult challenge when they come across a girl who runs away from home and has a problem with stealing. Not to mention that she may be connected with the Foot somehow. Stink at summaries, R&R please!
1. Chapter 1

**Disclaimer: I don't own TMNT. I never did, and I never will.**

** Ann: Alright, besides Four Fathers, this is the first chapter story I've posted in a **_**long**_** time. Although, I have all of the chapters planned out so updating should not be a problem. Unless I'm not able to go on the computer one random day for whatever reason... Okay, now I have nothing to say, so here is the first chapter of Lost! Enjoy!**

**Chapter One**

**New York City was quiet that night. The night was quiet too. Although the night was dark and chilly, it was peaceful. Everyone was at home with their families. No one running the streets, except for the homeless people, and no one running from the police. Tonight was a safe night for everyone from everyone.**

**A shadow leaped onto an apartment building rooftop. It stopped and looked back, as if it was waiting for something. Or someone. Another shadow leaped onto the same rooftop, following the other one. New York City was sleeping and quiet, except for these two. No one noticed them, no one heard them, and no one cared. The two shadows walked a little bit further, but then stopped. One of them peered over the side of the rooftop, looking down into the streets.**

**"It's a quiet night." He sighed.**

**"Too quiet." The other walked up beside him and looked across the other rooftops.**

**"Its 3:44 a.m., Raph," The first one glanced at his watch and then turned to look at his brother. "If anyone is planning on doing anything, I doubt they will do it tonight. No one is out there."**

**"So you're saying we should stop patrolling for the night?" Raph turned to his brother. "Donnie, just because it's quiet, doesn't mean nothing is gonna happen."**

**Donnie sighed. "I know what you mean. But it's getting late and we've been out here since before midnight. We were supposed to be back at the lair around 2 o'clock." He leaned against the side of the rooftop. He was tired and bored. He wanted to go back home and get some sleep. The only people the saw tonight were police cruisers patrolling the streets. If anything happened, it would be taken care of.**

**Raph shook his head. "No one is going to notice."**

**"Yes, they will notice," Donnie rolled his eyes. "Master Splinter is probably still awake waiting for us to return home."**

**"So call him." Raph replied, without any hesitation. He knew that his brainiest brother was probably right. Although, he still had this feeling that something bad was going to happen. He wasn't sure what it was or when it was going to happen, but he just knew he had to do his job patrolling the streets and take care of any goons who try to mess up the peace in New York City.**

**"Raph," Donnie stated. He knew his brother wasn't serious. He also knew his brother was stubborn and wasn't going to give in that easily. "When are you going to realize that nothing is going to--" Police sirens interrupted Donnie as he spoke. He jumped and turned his head in the direction of the sirens. He couldn't see anything, but he could still hear them. They were getting farther away, too. "--Happen." He finished, shocked that something was happening now. Right when he was about to make Raph go home with him.**

**Raph took out his Sais out of his front belt and twirled them around in his fingers. "Still say nothing is going to happen tonight? Still say tonight is a quiet night?" Raph asked.**

**Donnie took out his Bo staff from his back and held it with both of his hands. "Alright, Raph, I get the point. You proved me wrong this one time. Let's just go take care of this."**

**"With pleasure." Raph smiled, as he began to run towards the next rooftop. He was waiting for a fight. Nothing has happened all night and he wanted this so badly. He was running faster than he ever had in a long time. The police sirens were getting softer and softer. He and Donnie were losing them. He wanted to stop whatever was going on and if he was going to do that, he couldn't lose the police.**

**Donnie was right on his brother's tail. **_**Stubborn, stubborn, stubborn. Why did some stupid bad guy decide to commit a crime now? **_**Donnie thought to himself, as he leaped from one rooftop to the other.**

**"I see police lights up ahead!" Raph called to Donnie.**

**Donnie shook off all of his thoughts about Raph and paid more attention to what was going on in front of them. He looked ahead of him. Besides the back of his brother's head, he could see red and blue lights flashing and the sirens were beginning to get louder. "Did they stop or are we actually catching up to them?" Donnie cried out to his brother, trying to beat the pitch of the sirens.**

**Raph stopped and ran over to the side of the rooftop. He pointed to across the street, where a police cruiser was parked. Whatever was going on, it was happening just around the corner. "That answer your question?" He asked.**

**Donnie stopped next to Raph and looked over the scene. "That's the bank. It looks as though someone broke into it. Did the police catch him?"**

**Raph shrugged. "I can't really see. Let me get a better look." Raph ran over to the next rooftop and ran over as far as he could in that roof. He could now see around the corner. He could hear people in the apartments next door and across the street waking up, turning on their light, and opening their windows to see what was going on. Because of them and the sirens, Raph couldn't really hear the police officers talking among themselves and because of the flashing red and blue lights on the police cars; he couldn't really see what was going on.**

**Donnie watched his brother try to get a better look. Then, two police officers turned around the corner and Donnie was able to see them. The two of them were getting into the police car that was parked there.**

**"He got away." One of them said.**

**"There are no witnesses. We're going to have to deal with fingerprints for now." The other replied.**

**"Or wait until he strikes again." The first one sighed.**

**Donnie shook his head. **_**Great... He got away. And with how much money? This is a great ending to tonight.**_

**"Donnie!"**

**Donnie broke out of his thoughts once again when he heard Raph call his name. He twisted his head from the police officers to the other rooftop where his brother was standing.**

**"There he goes!" Raph called to him, pointing. Raph ran back over to the rooftop where Donnie was waiting and started backtracking to where they came from. "Stop day dreaming and catch him!" He ordered.**

**Donnie started to run after his brother, but he still couldn't see the robber.**

**"There he is!"**

**Donnie paused when he heard one of the police officers call to another officer. He looked ahead of himself and looked a little past Raph. That's when he could see a little shadow running away from a police car. **_**Got'cha!**_** Donnie smiled. He clenched his Bo staff tighter. If this guy is running, he's going to be hard to catch and he's surely going to put up a fight.**

**Raph stopped and turned around to Donnie. "Where'd he go?" He asked.**

**Donnie stopped right behind Raph and looked around. "Um, I don't know..." Donnie realized that the robber had suddenly disappeared.**

**"Do the police know where he went?" Raph asked. He walked over to the side of the rooftop, breathing heavily from all the running. He was looking for the police officers.**

**Donnie didn't answer. He wasn't sure if Raph was talking to him or to himself. Donnie looked down into the streets and noticed the police car cruising by slowly. "They're looking for him." Donnie finally confirmed. The police had lost the robber as well.**

**Raph grunted and slammed his fist on the side of the roof. "How did he just disappear like that?!" Raph looked all around and watched the police car drive by the two of them. They had their flashlights shining out the windows of the car, looking for this guy. Raph shook his head. "They're never going to find him that way." Raph stated and looked over to the alley in between the roof they were standing on and the roof next to them.**

**Donnie nodded. "Yeah, you're right. I think he got away," Donnie looked around. He couldn't see this guy anywhere. It was like he went invisible or something. When he heard no response from his brother, he looked beside him. "Raph?" He asked, when he noticed his brother was gone.**

**"Sh!" Raph scolded, putting up his hand to shut Donnie up.**

**Donnie walked over to Raph. **_**What is he doing? He better not have found any one else doing more crimes. **_**He looked down into the alley way and gasped. There he was. Peeking out from the corner. He hid in the alley as the police car passed him. "We have to stop him." Donnie stated.**

**The robber looked over the sides of the alley's walls. He looked to his left and to his right. Since he didn't see any flashlights, or red and blue lights, and he didn't hear any sirens, so he knew that the police had passed. He took a step out and was about to make a run for it again.**

**Raph nodded to Donnie. "Done." He stated and he jumped down right at the entrance to the alley.**

**He startled the robber, who jumped back towards the dead end of the alley. He glared at Raph and tried to run around him.**

**Donnie jumped down after and landed next to Raph, blocking the robber again. "Going somewhere?"**

**The robber took a couple steps back until he was a good distance away from Raph and Donnie. He was shocked that he was being stopped by two giant turtles and not the police. Although, he didn't really care about that right now. If he stayed there any longer, he was going to get caught by the police. He glared at the two brothers. "Get out of my way. This has nothing to do with you!"**

**Donnie and Raph both dropped their guard and exchanged confused glances at each other. They were both thinking the same thing. "He" sounds like a little girl. That was not what they were expecting. They were expecting a tough male to start fighting them.**

**She stepped out of the darkness and into the moonlight. "I said," She repeated herself. "Get out of my way."**

**Donnie and Raph both turned back to the little girl and paused. The two of them didn't know what to do. She seemed like a tough little girl who was defiantly younger than Raph and Donnie.**

**She rolled her eyes. "Are you deaf or do you not understand?" She called out to them. "Get out of my way!"**

**Donnie finally spoke up. "We can't do that."**

**Ann: Yeah, okay, I know the ending to this chapter is kind of dumb, but I couldn't figure out how else to end it. The next chapter should be up soon. Thanks for reading and please review before you leave! Thanks!**


	2. Chapter 2

Ann: Thank you to Kirai-Ninja, xStephRaglandx, and ManicFanFicHunter for reviewing. I really appreciate it. :) Now, here's chapter two!

Chapter Two

Raph turned his head to look at Donnie. "We can't do that?" He repeated his brother in a whisper. "That's all you got?" He looked back to the little girl.

Donnie shrugged. "I don't see you coming up with any bright ideas." He whispered back.

The girl rolled her eyes. "Look, I don't what you guys are all whispering about over there, so I'm just gonna get out of here." She tucked her long light brown hair behind her ear and took a step forward, her blue-green eyes hinting annoyance.

Donnie and Raph stopped whispering to each other and held their guard again.

"Listen, kid," Raph spoke up. "We don't want to fight you."

"And we certainly don't want to hurt you." Donnie added.

"Who said anything about fighting or hurting?" She grasped the bags of money tighter and took a step back again. It was obvious she wasn't going to get out of here anytime soon. "I just want to go home and you two are in my way." She sighed. She was getting frustrated and was trying to think of a plan in her head on how she was going to get away from these guys.

Raph put his sais back into his belt, showing her that he wasn't going to do anything to hurt her as he took a step forward. "We know you want to go home. We'll let you go home, but first--"

"We need to talk." Donnie interrupted his brother, as he followed his example by putting his bo staff away.

Raph paused and turned around to look at his brother. "We need to talk?" He once again repeated. What was Donnie thinking?

"Talk?" The girl repeated right after Raph. She was getting fed up with these guys enough already and now they wanted to talk? Talk about what? They don't even know her and they had no right to keep her here like this.

"About the money." Donnie quickly explained to Raph.

"She stole it. What else is there to talk about?" Raph asked. Maybe his brother was onto something, but as of right now, Raph had no idea what Donnie was planning. He wasn't sure if Donnie even knew what he was planning.

The girl shook her head and raised her hand to get the boys attention. "Okay, listen. I have an idea," She put one of her hands on her hip while she held the money with the other hand. "Why don't you two talk about whatever it is you need to talk about, and I'll just go home? Sound good?"

"No." Donnie and Raph both quickly turned back to the girl and answered her in unison.

Donnie turned back to Raph. "I want to talk to her about stealing. She probably doesn't know any better."

"How can you tell?" Raph asked.

"Look at her. She must be about seven years old or something around there." Donnie was referring to how skinny she was and how short she was. She must have been under five feet.

Raph shook his head. "She doesn't act like she's seven years old. Listen to the way she talks."

The girl raised an eyebrow. "Um, excuse me? I'm still here. I can hear every word you two are saying. Yes, I know I'm skinny and I know I'm short," She was starting to get really angry with them now. "No, I'm not seven years old, I'm thirteen, and yes, I do know better and yes, I know that stealing is wrong. Talk over. Can I please go home now?"

Donnie and Raph both stared at her, shocked.

"Told you she wasn't seven years old." That was all Raph could say to Donnie.

Donnie paused. "I didn't think she could hear us," He scratched the back of his head. "Um, okay," He continued. "So, if you're thirteen years old and you know that stealing is wrong, then why did you steal?"

She sighed. "That's not really any of your business, now is it?" She remarked.

"Yes it is our business," Raph responded. "If the police get involved, then it makes it our business."

"Says who?" She replied.

"Says us." Raph was getting annoyed with her mouth.

She shook her head. "I've stolen things before. Every time the police have got involved. Every time I got away. There has not been one time when I've seen you guys!" She raised her voice.

"Listen kid--" Raph glared at her.

"We just want to you to give the money back. That's all." Donnie interrupted his brother again, knowing that he was going to end up yelling at the girl and upset her or something.

"Well, that's too bad, because I'm not going to give up this money." She replied to Donnie, but was glaring at Raph. He wasn't taking his eyes off of her, so she wasn't going to take her eyes off of him.

"Do you want it the hard way or do you want it the easy way?" Raph threw his arms up in the air.

"I want it the leave-me-alone-and-let-me-go-home way!" She shouted back.

"That would be the hard way." Raph took out his sais.

Donnie stopped him. "Raph!"

"What?" He glared at Donnie.

"Thief or no thief, you can't pull out your weapons on her! She's defenseless and just a kid." Donnie explained. He wasn't sure how they were going to get her to surrender, but he knew more than his brother not to start fighting her.

"She's two years younger than us!" Raph argued.

The girl rolled her eyes. They were defiantly not on the police's side. Otherwise, they would probably know how to handle a situation like this. She looked up at the sky. It was getting early. She had to get back to where she came from and fast. Her mother worked at the bank. If she found her here, then that would mean big trouble.

She looked back at the two turtles arguing. The red one still had his sais in his hands but the purple one seemed to be no threat. Actually, neither one of them seemed to act like a threat since they were so occupied with each other. She looked down at her arms. She had three bags of money. She didn't know how much money she had grabbed, but she knew that if she lost one bag, she wouldn't lose a lot. _If they want the money so bad, then they can have it._

She held two of the bags tightly in one of her hands and she held the third bag loosely in the other hand. She started to tip-toe past the two turtles, hoping that they would be too busy arguing to notice that she had crept away. Although, she wasn't a ninja. Every step she took shook the bags, which shook the money, which included both cash and coins. Coins made sound.

Raph put his hand up to silence Donnie when he heard the coins. He turned around and noticed her trying to sneak away. "What do you think you're doing?"

"You two are wasting my time." She replied.

Donnie stood in front of her. "We wouldn't have wasted all of this time if you had just given us the money in the first place like we asked you and--"

"What do you want the money for anyway?" She wondered.

"To give back to the bank," Raph added. "Seeing that you're not going to give it back."

"If I won't give it back to the bank, what makes you think that I would give it to you guys?" She asked. "Besides, how can I trust you?"

"You're just going to have to trust us. You can watch us if you want." Donnie said.

"If you give us the money now, we won't turn you in." Raph tried to bribe her. He figured that if he threatened with the police, she would give up and listen to them. In a way, that neither Raph or Donnie were expecting, she did listen to them.

She smiled. "Fine." She whipped one of the bags of money in Donnie's face and ran as fast as her little legs could carry her.

Donnie caught the bag, but it ripped open and a bunch of coins and cash flew out of the bag.

Raph didn't see what was coming until it ended. "Shell!" He shouted.

Donnie was rubbing his foot, after a bunch of coins fell on top of it. "She got away."

"No kidding!" Raph replied.

Donnie shook his head. "I guess we can pack this money up and give it back to the bank."

Raph stared at the corner that the girl disappeared around, as if he was expecting her to come back. "I can't believe this. That kid is a fast runner. She's probably long gone by now."

Donnie was picking up the money. "There's nothing more that we can do."

"She'll be back, though," Raph nodded to him. "She'll be back to get more money." _And when she does,_ He added to himself. _We'll be waiting right here for her._

* * *

Donnie sat himself down on the couch in the lair and faced all the TVs they had. He sighed. He kept replaying what happened that night over and over again in his head when he and Raph were walking back to the lair. He and Raph had been so foolish. They probably would have won that battle if the two of them didn't start to argue. Donnie started to feel a little like Leo. He and Raph let a criminal go all because of a stupid little argument. He had to just accept it, however. She was gone and the money went with her.

Raph sat down in the arm chair next to the couch. _She got away._ He sighed to himself. _How did Donnie and I let her get away? She was just a little girl and she out smarted us and got away with two bags of money. At least we got one bag. Well, one bag that ripped and we had to pick up all the coins that fell. We didn't even get all the cash because it blew away in the wind. This really is a perfect ending to a perfect night! _He rolled his eyes at his last sarcastic remark to himself.

Donnie sat up with a grunt. "Well, I guess I'll go to bed now. I mean, I only have about an hour and a half to sleep, but it'll be something," He stood up. "You should go to bed too. And forget what happened tonight. If she strikes again any time soon, we'll get her. You'll see." He yawned and waved to Raph, letting him know that he was done talking or doing anything else for the night. He jumped up to the second floor and disappeared into his bedroom, shutting the door behind him.

Raph nodded to Donnie, just letting him know that he heard him and understood. He stood up after Donnie reached his bedroom and he began to go to his bedroom as well. _Shell yeah; we're going to get her if she strikes again._ He yawned to himself, went into his bedroom, and plopped himself down on his bed and instantly fell asleep.

* * *

Ann: That's the end to chapter two. Yeah, I know, Leo and Mikey haven't made an appearance yet. They'll be in the next chapter, though. Thanks for reading and please review!


	3. Chapter 3

**Ann: Thanks to Kirai-Ninja, xStephRaglandx, ManicFanFicHunter, PuldohFAN!, and Manic HERO/? for reviewing. :) Everyone's asking questions, lol. You'll have to continue reading to find out! ;)**

**Chapter Three**

**Donnie woke up the next morning with his stomach growling. He rolled over and glanced at the clock. It was 6:59 a.m. His alarm clock was going to go off in one minute. He groaned. He hated it when he woke up before his alarm clock. Donnie stretched his legs and arms out as far as he could and yawned. He got about two hours of sleep that night. Maybe a little bit more, maybe a little bit less. Donnie didn't know what time he came home last night or what time he fell asleep at.**

**He closed his eyes again for about a second. Then the alarm clock went off. His eyes shot open from the annoying beeping noise and slammed his fist down on the button for it to stop. **_**Another day is about to begin...yay...**_

**Donnie threw the covers off of him and swung his legs over the side of the bed. He was sitting up, scratching the back of his head as his jaw gaped open and began to yawn once more. Donnie stood up, trying to keep his balance, and left his bedroom after his stomach had growled one more time to remind him he was hungry. **

**He hopped down to the first floor and was about to go into the kitchen when he noticed one of his brothers watching TV. The only light in the room, however, was the light from the TV. Donnie couldn't tell which brother it was. He shrugged his shoulders and was about to move on, but that decision quickly changed when he heard the lady on the news talking.**

_**"I'm Ginny Laramie and this is the seven o'clock morning news. The Federal Reserve bank was robbed last night. More like earlier this morning."**_

**Donnie took a step into the kitchen and paused to listen to the TV. **_**Oh, shell.**_

_**"Sarah Night is at the scene of the crime. Sarah?"**_

_**"Thank you, Ginny. I'm standing right outside the Federal Reserve bank this morning with the police and crime investigators looking for clues on who stole the money. The police did not catch anyone. There are no suspects and no witnesses. All we know so far is that this robber had long hair. With only the moon for light last night, no one can identify this person more."**_

**Donnie walked over to the couch and sat down next to his brother. "Wow..." He gaped at the TV.**

**"I'm gonna kill that kid." It was Raph. He was glaring at the TV. with his arms crossed against his chest, shaking his head.**

_**"Whoever this robber is, he got away with over 6,000 dollars."**_

**"6,000 dollars?!" Donnie repeated, shocked. He didn't think that she got away with that much. Now he felt even guiltier for letting her escape from their grasps.**

**Raph buried his face in his hands with a loud sigh of annoyance. "I can't believe we let her get away!"**

**"You let her get away? You saw her?"**

**Raph lifted his face in surprise. He didn't notice anyone was standing behind him and Donnie.**

**Donnie turned around. "Oh, Leo. Hi." He was startled as well.**

**"Hi." Leo replied. He looked a little angry, but Donnie couldn't figure out why.**

**Raph turned around and faced his brother. "Yeah, we saw her. And we talked to her."**

**"You talked to her and she managed to get away?" Leo responded.**

**Donnie nodded. "Yeah, about that..."**

**"Good morning, guys!" Mikey hopped down from the second floor and walked over and stood next to Leo. "Why are we all in here? Let's go eat!" He pointed to the kitchen.**

**Everyone was silent for a couple of minutes. Donnie and Raph stared at Leo and Leo stared back at the two of them. Mikey was smiling as he looked back and forth between the three boys.**

**"Um, guys?" His smile faded as he became more confused. It was obvious something was going on and he had missed it.**

**"You go ahead, Mikey." Leo turned to his little brother.**

**"We'll be in there in a minute." Donnie added.**

**Raph kept his eyes on Leo. He could tell that Leo was a little angry with him and Donnie. Raph also know that he had no reason to be angry with him and Donnie. And when Leo was angry at him for no reason, that made Raph angry right back at him.**

**Mikey stayed there for about a minute more and then shrugged it off. He didn't know what was going on and if they weren't telling him, it obviously had nothing to do with. So, he left. Then naturally, he eavesdropped through the kitchen.**

**"Okay, so what happened?" Leo finally broke the silence of the staring contest.**

**Donnie opened his mouth to begin explaining, but Raph interrupted him.**

**"Donnie and I were patrolling last night, the bank was robbed, we tried to catch her, and ended up getting away from us," Raph explained. "That was all."**

**Donnie turned from Raph to Leo. He could tell that Raph was little mad with Leo so therefore, Leo was going to end up getting mad at Raph.**

**Leo shook his head. "But I don't understand. If you two were patrolling right around that bank, how come you two weren't able to stop her when she robbed the bank?"**

**"I told you!" Raph replied. "She got away from us."**

**Leo sighed. "No, what I don't understand is how a little girl could get away from you two."**

**"She wasn't little." Raph argued.**

**"Well, she wasn't little in age, that is." Donnie corrected.**

**"She robbed a bank. I should hope that she wasn't about five years old or something." Leo remarked.**

**"She was just short for her age, that's what he means." Raph explained.**

**Mikey was eavesdropping from the kitchen and was trying not to laugh. **_**The bank was robbed last night? They let her get away? I don't think we've ever let somebody get away. I mean, we have, but we always him later on. **_**Mikey nodded to himself. **_**And we will. We'll see her again and we'll catch her that time. What's the big deal?**_

**"The big deal is," Leo replied after Raph said what Mikey was thinking. "Because you let her get away, she now has 6,000 dollars! Do you know how many people that's going to hurt?"**

**"Leo," Raph stood up. "We're not stupid. We know that when people loose money, it obviously hurts them. Donnie and I were up all night last night, the police were everywhere and we just had a little bad luck!"**

**"A little?" Leo sneered.**

**Donnie closed his eyes. **_**Poor choice of words, Leo...**_

**Raph rolled his eyes. "Leo, you're killing me here. What do you expect us to do? I told you, we had some bad luck last night and there were police all over the place! What'd you want us to do? Catch her and to make sure she doesn't get away again, wait for the police to come pick her up? What is the police spotted us, huh?"**

**Leo nodded. "I know you two have to stay out of sight with the police, but I just don't think that you and Donnie did enough to stop this girl last night."**

**"We couldn't even find the brat at first!" Raph began to raise his voice. He was getting very frustrated. "She outsmarted the police. If we didn't chase the police, we would have never found her."**

**"Then I suggest you look harder." Leo remarked.**

**Raph stood up. "Leo, why don't you go on patrol next time? Then you can catch and take down any bad guy that crosses or doesn't cross your path."**

**Leo glared at him, opening his mouth to say something.**

**Donnie stood up and rubbed his stomach. "Well, I'm hungry. Anyone else want food?"**

**Leo closed his mouth and sighed at Donnie while Raph glared at him. They could both tell that Donnie was trying to prevent a fight.**

**Mikey was still by the kitchen door. He could see what was coming next and he also knew what Donnie was trying to do, so he followed his brother's lead. He left the kitchen with four cups in his hands and orange juice, apple juice, and milk. He was trying to balance them all in his arms. "Who wants what to drink with their breakfast?" He asked, as he stumbled all over the place. He would hoping that the three of his brothers would forget what they were talking about and try to help him carry everything back into the kitchen.**

**"Milk." Leo and Raph replied in unison as they turned back to each other to glare at each other some more. They pretty much ignored what Mikey was trying to do, regardless if they knew what he was trying to do or not.**

**Donnie watched his little. He wanted to help, but if Leo and Raph were going to continue this argument, Donnie knew he had to be there to make sure they didn't kill each other. "Orange juice." He responded to Mikey.**

**Mikey fell limp and dropped the cups and cartons onto the floor. Luckily, none of the drinks opened up and spilled all over the place. He sighed and threw his arms up in the air when no one seemed to react to the crash. He bent over to pick everything up. "It's okay, guys. I got this."**

**"I don't understand why this is such a big deal to you." Raph said to Leo.**

**"I don't understand why this isn't such a big deal to you." Leo remarked to Raph.**

**"Why should it be a big deal? She'll strike again! They always do!" Raph argued.**

**"Guys," Donnie interrupted the two of them. "Maybe we should go eat breakfast now."**

**"Maybe we should have a quiet breakfast so Raph can get his thinking straight." Leo replied to Donnie, not taking his eyes off of Raph.**

**Raph turned to Donnie, not having an attitude towards him. He didn't do anything. It was Leo he was mad at. "No thanks, Donnie. I'm not hungry right now." With that, Raph walked out of the lair.**

**Donnie sighed, shaking his head. "That went well." He muttered to himself. He suddenly jumped and turned around as he heard another crash.**

**Mikey was staring at the floor. He had just dropped the cartons and cups again. Only accidentally, this time. Mikey stared at the milk, which was now leaking out of the carton. "Shell..."**

* * *

**Raph was sitting on top of the building's roof across the street from the bank that was robbed. He was gathering his thoughts together. He was upset that he and Donnie let that girl get away with 6,000 dollars, but after listening to Leo rag on about it, he was even more upset than before. He wouldn't help but be a little angry. He knew that this kid was going to strike again. 6,000 dollars should be enough for a little girl like her, but she lost a lot when she escaped him and Donnie. It was obvious that she was going to want to more. Raph couldn't figure out why, however.**

**He heard the sirens and the bell in the bank rang. Raph looked up and noticed that someone was robbing the bank once again. This time it was in broad daylight. Raph stood up when he realized that whoever robbed the bank seemed to be the girl from last night. **_**So, you think Donnie and I only come out at night, huh? **_**He twirled both sais between his three fingers on each hand and began to chase her. **_**Think again, Kid! This time you're going' down!**_

* * *

**Ann: Wow! Sorry this took such a long time to update. I never had the time. School is almost over so my teachers decide ****now**** to throw four projects at me. That's how I spent my long Memorial weekend. Working on dumb projects. Anyway, I'm updating now and I hope you liked this chapter. Sorry if I kind of made Leo a little OOC. As I was writing this, I couldn't figure out if he would actually say those things or not. Thanks for reading and please review!**


	4. Chapter 4

Ann: Thanks to xS.E.Raglandx and PuldohFAN! for reviewing. Also, Puldoh, I will be trying to update as much as I can, but unfortunately, summer vacation doesn't start for another couple of weeks for me. I don't get out of school until June 19th, sadly. Also, I know this story has been going from bold to not bold to bold and then not bold again. Sorry about that, I was going to have it in bold but someone said it was a little difficult to read. To make it easier, I decided to not bold it, but I just forgot to not bold it in the last chapter. Okay, you can go ahead and read the next chapter now. :)

Chapter Four

The thirteen-years-old girl ran into a different ally way than she had last night. She gently put the money down on the ground by her feet and pulled her long straight hair into a high ponytail. _Come on, Jean, you can do this. _She thought to herself, as she picked up the money again. _You got away from the police last night; you can get away again this morning. _She glared at the thin air. _If only those...turtles, or whatever they are, hadn't interfered!_

Jean jumped a little when she noticed a police car turning the corner. They were searching for her the exact same way they were searching for her last night. She rolled her eyes. _Oh, yeah, because that way of searching for me was so helpful. _In her mind, the police could be boneheads sometimes. She took a couple of steps back and hid behind one of the dumpsters that were in that ally. She didn't want to risk being seen by the police.

As soon as they passed, she came out into the open with a smile on her face. _Suckers..._

"Back for more?"

Her blue-green eyes sparkled brightly in the sun, but grew wide with fright as she heard a deep voice from behind. She slowly turned around and noticed he was one of the turtles from last night. She rolled her eyes and groaned. "What do you want now?" She said in a whiny voice.

Raph glared at her. "You know what I want."

"Go steal your own money." She held the money more closely to herself and shielded it as though she was expecting him to rip it out of her hands.

Raph raised an eyebrow. "Kid, you're driving my patience..."

"What do you mean?" She smiled. She knew she was annoying him and she was hoping that he was going to get off topic by trying to make her understand, that she would somehow be able to get away. Although, she wasn't quite sure how she was going to get away yet.

"You know what I mean!" Raph snapped. "Give the money back to bank! I don't understand why you're stealing in the first place."

"I don't understand why you care." She shot back.

Raph tried not to lose his temper. He knew that that was just going to end up scaring her away. "Look, Kid, I'm going to give you a couple of choices."

She sighed. _This is exactly what happened last night._

"Option number one..." Raph began.

"You know what," She interrupted him. "You're right."

Raph paused for a minute, shocked. "I'm right?" He repeated.

"Yes." She replied.

"Shell, yeah, I'm right. Now what are you going to go do?" He asked.

She sighed and glanced down at all the money in her arms. "I'm going to give the money back to the police."

Raph walked over to the end of the ally and pointed to the bank. "Good. Go ahead. I'll be right here watching." He folded his arms across his chest.

Her eyes were filled with sadness and defeat as she walked past him. She was staring at the ground and she knew this red turtles didn't care. As soon as she past him, she was still frowning, but her eyes were hinting off laughter. This was her chance to run. And she did.

Raph took out his sais and began to chase after her. "Get back here!" He shouted at her.

She looked behind herself to see how far back he was. She was surprised to see that he was right on her tail. She had to speed up. He was going to catch her at any moment. There were a lot of people on the sidewalks and a lot of cars on the streets of New York City at this time. _Maybe I can lose him in the crowd. _She tried to come up with a plan on how to get rid of him.

She twisted her head back around, hiding the money in her jacket, and her eyes moved from left to right, searching for him. She caught a glimpse of him running just a little bit behind her, but he was going through ally ways and jumping over brick walls. _He's sticking to the shadows...maybe because of his appearance? _She guessed, trying to figure out if he was actually an alien. She shook her head. _Aliens aren't real, Jean._

Raph was still on her tail. _I can't let her get away for a second time! _He thought to himself. _But I also can't be seen by everyone else on the streets...it's amazing she hasn't run into anyone, yet..._

"Go away!" The little thief called to Raph.

Raph shook his head, still chasing after her. "No way! Not until you return what you stole!" He shouted back. He had to think of a plan to get her.

She glared at him in annoyance. She has to think of a plan to get rid of him. _If he's sticking to the shadows, that means he can't be seen. _She smiled as she saw a hotel. "And if he can't be seen..." She whispered to herself, knowing how she was going to get rid of this guy. Then, she crossed the street and ran into the hotel.

Raph couldn't believe what he was seeing. _Where is she going? What does she think she's doing? Oh, I'm going to get that little brat! _He was about to come out of one of the alleys, but he stopped short. There were too many people walking the sidewalks and crossing the street and coming in and out of buildings. He glared at the front door of the hotel to where she disappeared. _Smart kid..._

Jean ran into the elevator and quickly closed the door.

"Miss, can you please hold the door?" A woman was rushing to get to the elevator.

Jean clicked the close door button a couple more times as the door began to close. "Sorry, all full." She quickly responded before the elevator shut in the woman's face. She sighed. She felt a little bad because she knew that that woman knew no one was in the elevator but her, but she didn't want to risk the money being seen. _Even though it's nobody's business! _She snapped at herself.

The elevator stopped at the top floor and she stepped out, looking around. "Now what?" She asked herself aloud.

"Excuse me, are you looking for something?" A bell hop came over to her. It was obvious he had heard her talking to herself.

Jean shook her head with a smile. "No, I'm okay, thanks." She replied.

"If you're sure." He returned the smile and walked away.

Jean sighed and looked around once more. Then she spotted a flight of stairs that led to roof. _Perfect! I'll see if I can find where he is and then run in the opposite direction._

She made it to the top of the roof. She looked over the edge and took a couple of steps back. "Whoa, it's high up here..." She muttered to herself and backed right into someone. She jumped, but he grabbed her before she could get away.

"Got'cha!" He shouted triumphantly.

Jean realized that this must have been the red turtle. "Let go of me, you creep!" He elbowed him in the stomach.

"Oof!" Come the reply, but his grip was still tight.

"Leo?"

Jean paused and so did the person holding her. She looked over and saw the red turtle standing on the other side of the roof. Confused, Jean looked up to see her attacker and realized the two were exactly the same, only the one holding her, "Leo," was wearing a blue mask. She hung her head low. _Great. Now I have to get away from two of them...again!_

"Hey." Was all Leo was able to respond.

"What are you doing?" Raph asked.

"Raph," Leo replied. "I came here to help you."

"Why?" Raph asked again. His brother was really starting to bother him. Why wasn't he able to just let him do things on his own? He couldn't take this anymore. He was ready to explode at his brother.

"Donnie told me that I should probably come out here and have a little talk with you..." Leo explained.

_He calls helping me "a little talk?"_ Raph asked himself.

"...Besides," Leo continued. "You looked like you could use all the help you could get." He ended with a little chuckle.

Raph clenched his hands into fists. "I don't need help!"

"Really?" Leo asked. "Because, if you didn't need any help, I would have thought you were be holding this girl and not me."

_"This girl" has a name..._ Jean rolled her eyes, but said nothing.

Raph glared at his brother. "Leo, I had everything under control. I would've caught her same way you caught her. I would have been fine."

_No you wouldn't have. _Jean protested in her head. Then she thought back at how Leo caught her. He snuck up behind her when she was took occupied trying to look for Raph. _Okay, maybe he would have..._

Leo loosened his grip a little. "Well, what does it matter now? I caught her, didn't I?"

"_You_ caught her?" Raph repeated.

Leo let go of Jean and rubbed his temples. "Raph, look. We don't have time to argue right now. Maybe in a little while, but not until we get her settled." He pointed to Jean.

Jean took a step back so he wouldn't accidentally poke her in the eye. _Now's my chance. _She smiled as she noticed a fire escape.

Raph walked up to his brother and went into his face. "Why do you always have to butt into everything, huh? I had everything under control! I could have taken care of this situation easily if you didn't come into the picture. I would have had her."

Leo crossed his arms. "You didn't have her when I got here."

"That's because you got here before me." Raph replied.

"If I didn't get here before you, she would have run away again." Leo remarked.

Raph shook his head. "She would have no reason to run! She probably would have waited until she thought that I gave up." He tried to think like a criminal so he could get Leo back.

Leo sighed. "Whatever, Raph. We caught her and that's all that matters."

"Yeah, but if you didn't butt in she would still be here." Raph stated, realizing she had run away again.

Leo gave his brother a weird look. "What are you talking about?"

"She's gone!" Raph raised his voice and pointed to where the girl had been standing.

Leo turned around and stared at air. "Shell!" He shouted frustrated.

* * *

Ann: Alright, that's the end of chapter four. I'll try to update as soon as possible. Thanks for reading and please review on your way out. Thanks!


	5. Chapter 5

Ann: Thanks again to xS.E.Raglandx, PuldohFAN!, and ManicFanFicHunter for reviewing. :) Also, PuldohFAN! Sorry about your name. I just shortened it like a nickname. I didn't think you were going to mind. And I know you didn't know that my summer vacation hadn't started yet. Of course I forgive you. ;)

Chapter Five

Raph stamped into the lair and was about to stomp up into his room when he noticed Donnie and Mikey sitting on the couch. The two of them were playing video games, but when they heard Raph come in, they knew something was wrong and was staring at him. "What are you looking at?" He asked the two of them with an attitude.

Mikey shrugged. Raph was in a bad mood, so until he was happier, Mikey wasn't going to say anything.

Donnie spoke up instead. "Um, Raph, is something bothering you?" He asked with caution.

Normally, Raph would just yell at them to butt out and leave him alone, but he knew that they were just trying to make sure that he was okay. He opened his mouth to say what happened with Leo and everything, but Leo walked through the lair.

"There you are," Leo calmly walked in, although you could tell he was angry. Raph must have left him behind. "I wasn't finished talking with you, yet."

Raph closed his mouth and rolled his eyes and was about to walk back up the stairs again.

"Raph, get back here." Leo glared at him.

Mikey and Donnie both turned to each other and exchanged nervous glances. These two were defiantly in a huge fight and "Leo's talk" didn't seem like it was going to help at all.

"I don't care if you weren't finished talking with me. I was finished talking with you," Raph shrugged. "Besides, there's nothing even to talk about. What happened is what happened and it's all because of you. Anything else?"

"My fault?" Leo repeated. "Let me think for a minute. Who caught the kid? Me or you?"

"If you didn't get in they way or if you had?" Raph shot back.

Leo glared at his little brother. He opened his mouth to say something, but Donnie stepped in between the two quarreling brothers. "Okay, guys. I think we all need to talk about what happened serene and meticulously." He explained.

"Yeah," Mikey agreed. "What he said." He nodded, not having a clue as to what meticulously meant.

"Raph, you sit on one chair, Leo, you sit on the other, and Mikey and I will sit on the couch." Donnie separated the two turtles.

Leo sat down in his spot, crossing his arms over his chest and Raph stubbornly sat down in his place with a grunt. Mikey was always sitting on the couch. He just turned around and sat down normally so he could face his brothers.

Donnie sat down next to Mikey. "Okay. Let's start."

"What happened?" Mikey asked.

Both Leo and Raph both started to explain what happened at the same time. Only the two of them had different views of the story because both of them were blaming the other one.

Donnie shook his head at Mikey. "Nice one, Mikey. That's like asking, 'Who wants the last cookie?'"

Mikey shrugged. "Sorry."

Donnie turned to Leo and Raph. "The two of them are really bickering with each other. How are we going to get them to stop?"

Mikey shrugged again. "Who knows? I mean, the two of them always fight like this."

"Yeah, but this fight seems bigger than all the others." Donnie observed.

Mikey sighed. "They'll figure it out. They always do." He added.

"You're right," Donnie nodded. "The two of them will figure it out themselves."

"I hope..." Mikey muttered.

Donnie didn't hear him and stood up. "Guys, knock it off!" He shouted.

Leo and Raph immediately shut their mouths.

"I thought you wanted us to explain to you what happened?" Raph said, confused. He didn't seem to understand why Donnie was angry all of the sudden.

Donnie scratched the back of his head. "Not at the same time."

"Oh." Leo and Raph both looked at each other. "I'll go first." They both replied in unison then glared at each other.

Mikey snorted a little.

Donnie cast his little brother a warning glance and then turned back to Raph and Leo. "Who saw the girl first?"

"I did." Raph replied.

Donnie sat back down. "Raph will go first."

Raph smirked at Leo before he began.

Leo rolled his eyes.

Donnie shook his head. It was usually Leo yelling at Mikey and Raph to knock it off. He was playing Leo's part and Leo was playing Mikey's part. Well, somewhat of Mikey's part.

"Alright," Raph began. "She robbed the bank again so when I found her in an alley way trying to get away from the police again, I stopped her. I tried to get her to give back the money, and she said she would, but she tricked me and got away. She ran into one of the buildings and because we can't be seen by everyone else, I had to take the long way and try to get onto that roof. When I finally made it on the roof, the kid was there and so was Leo," He glared at Leo as he said his name.

Leo glared right back at him.

Donnie shook his head at his brothers' behavior while Mikey was just slowly nodding his head at Raph. It was obvious he wasn't paying any attention to what was going on.

"I was going to grab the kid, but I was distracted by Leo because--"

"Objection." Leo interrupted Raph and stood up with his hand raised.

"Objection to what?" Raph asked.

"I didn't distract you!" Leo protested.

Donnie rubbed his forehead. "Leo, you can't call an objection," He stated, ignoring what Leo had just said. "You'll have your turn to tell your side of the story when Raph is done. Let him finish."

Leo sat back down without another word.

Raph sighed. "Okay, so anyway, I was distracted by Leo because I was trying to figure out what he was doing and why he was there. Then he grabbed her. Then we started to fight and he let go of her and she ran away."

"Fascinating." Mikey smiled, sarcastically as soon as Raph finished.

Raph scowled at him.

Mikey gave him an innocent face. "What?"

Donnie put his hand in Mikey's face as a hint for him to shut up. "Leo, go ahead."

Raph was the one to stand up this time. "Why do we even have to do this? This is all Leo's fault and he's just going to have to accept the fact that he messed up...again."

Leo stood up and got into Raph's face. "I'm not the only one who messed up. I wouldn't have had to go catch her if it wasn't for you. If you weren't so gullible, she never would have gone on that roof and I wouldn't have had to come in and save the day."

"You didn't have to save the day! I would have caught her on the roof," Raph put his hands on his hips. "And you call grabbing her and then letting her get away 'saving the day?'"

Donnie didn't want to listen to this anymore. He turned to Mikey. "Do you want to go on patrol?"

"And leave the two of them here by themselves?" Mikey asked in shock. "What if they kill each other?"

Donnie smiled. "Mikey, they're not going to kill each other. I just think the two of them need to have some time alone with each other."

Mikey made a confused face. "That sounds weird..."

"You know what I mean." Donnie shook his head.

Mikey got off of the couch. "Okay. I'll go on patrol with you."

Leo and Raph both heard what Mikey and turned to him and Donnie.

"Where are you going?" Leo asked.

"Mikey and I are going to out on patrol." Donnie replied.

"Why now?" Raph asked.

Mikey was already out the lair.

Donnie was outside the lair but was poking his head in. "Because we can't stand hearing you two argue any longer. You two are on your own. Kiss and make up by yourselves." He closed the door behind.

"Are they going to be okay?" Mikey asked.

Donnie nodded. "They should be. Now hurry up." He started to run.

"Why?" Mikey began to run to keep up with his brother.

Donnie didn't look behind him to see if Mikey was keeping pace with him. "Before Leo and Raph came home, I heard something on the news that she robbed another bank, which is the robbery that Raph and Leo caught her from, and they had a clue as to where she was going. Let's go see if we can find her ourselves and catch her."

Ann: That's the end of that chapter. I hope you enjoyed it. I liked this chapter. It was like an anger management thing, lol. Thanks for reading and please review!


	6. Chapter 6

Ann: Thanks again to xS.E.Raglandx, PuldohFAN!, and ManicFanFicHunter for reviewing.

Chapter Six

"So, what are we going to do when we catch her?" Mikey asked, as he and Donnie looked down on the streets from the bank's rooftop.

Donnie shrugged. "Well, we could talk to her, but seeing as she got away from Raph and Leo twice that way..."

"That wouldn't be a good idea." Mikey interrupted.

"Exactly." Donnie nodded.

Mikey looked around. "Where do you think she could be?"

Donnie pointed to one of the police cars. Two police officers were rushing to one of the cars and they were shouting to other officers. They found where she was. "Follow them."

* * *

It was very quiet in the lair. Master Splinter was meditating in the other room while Raph and Leo were sitting in silence in the living room. They both wanted to go catch that girl. They were annoyed that Donnie and Mikey had left them behind that like. Raph groaned and shifted his weight from staring at the blank TV to Leo.

"This is your entire fault, you know." He stated.

Leo stopped pacing and looked over at his brother. "My fault?"

"Yeah." Raph nodded.

"How is it my fault?" Leo glared at him.

Raph stood up and walked over to Leo. "If you didn't show up--"

"Don't start this again!" Leo argued. "We already had this argument and we both know that you're wrong."

Raph's eyes widened. "I'm wrong?"

Leo shook his head. "Look, Raph, we lost. It's okay that you let her get away. Donnie and Mikey will hopefully get her."

"Yeah, only I'm not the one who let her get away!" Raph shouted.

"If you didn't start yelling at me, I wouldn't have let her go." Leo explained, as calmly as he could.

"I started yelling because you got in the way!"

"Well, I let her go because you started yelling at me, you were being a distraction to me!" Leo shouted back.

"Distraction?" Raph echoed in disbelief. "Okay, one, I was not a distraction. Two, even if I was a distraction, distractions have never gotten in your way before!"

Leo rolled his eyes. "Raph, let's just wait for Donnie and Mikey to come home."

"Because you know I'm right."

Leo glared at him. "Raph, I'm this close to--"

"Raphael, Leonardo!"

Raph and Leo both turned around and saw Master Splinter standing in the doorway.

"Master Splinter, I thought you were meditating?" Leo asked.

"I was." He glared at his two sons.

"Oh..." Raph slowly looked away, knowing that his arguing with Leo must have bothered him.

"Sorry, Master Splinter." Leo sighed.

Master Splinter opened the door to his room. "Come in. We are going to talk about this."

* * *

"Now, what exactly is this all about?" Master Splinter sat down on his bed.

Raph and Leo glanced at each other.

"Leo got in my way."

"Raph distracted me." The two of them replied at the same time.

"Did not!" The two, again, shouted at the same time to each other.

Master Splinter shook his head. "What were the two of you doing to make you so angry at one another?" He asked.

"We were chasing that little girl who robbed the bank about..."

"A million times." Raph interrupted Leo to exaggerate.

Leo glanced a look to Raph and shook his head while turning back to Master Splinter.

Master Splinter nodded. "Ah, yes. I know her. I've seen her, well I've heard of her, on the news. They never actually showed her."

"Anyway," Raph continued. "I was this close to catching her, but Leo caught her first."

Master Splinter hesitated on his answer. It sounded as if the two were fighting over who got to play with a doll first. "Raphael, fighting crime is not a competition."

"I know, Master Splinter. And neither is fighting crime just for the glory." Raph added with a glare casting over to Leo.

Leo looked shock. "You really think I caught her because I wanted to show everyone that I caught her before you?"

"Why else did you get in the way?" Raph asked.

"Because you looked like you weren't go to grab her." Leo responded.

"I was too going to get her! I didn't want her to know I was right behind her!" Raph argued.

"You were moving as slow as a turtle." Leo replied.

"I am a turtle!" Raph yelled.

Master Splinter buried his face in his hands. "Oi..."

* * *

"So, you want us to start learning how to work together?" Leo asked.

"That sounds like kindergarten stuff." Raph added.

Master Splinter nodded. "The two of you, along with Michelangelo and Donatello as well, should know how the others are thinking. You do it all the time. I do not see why this time was so different."

"I'm sorry, Master Splinter. I guess I was just so focused on catching that...brat." Raph said.

"Do not apologize to me." Master Splinter said to Raph.

Raph looked up and then looked at Leo.

Leo could tell he wasn't going to want to say sorry, so he decided to go first. "I'm sorry, Raph. I should have let you do what you were doing. You probably would have caught her if I didn't step in."

Raph sighed. "I'm sorry too."

Leo and Master Splinter stared at him, as if they were waiting for him to elaborate.

"What? I said I was sorry." Raph replied.

The two of them shook their heads.

"Close enough," Master Splinter replied. "Now let me finish my meditating."

Leo and Raph stood up to leave. They bowed to their master and opened the door.

That's when the alarm went off.

"What's going on?" the alarm took Raph by surprise.

"Someone broke in, maybe?" Leo replied as if the answer was obvious.

"Well who?" Raph asked.

Leo drew his katana swords. "I don't know." He started inching forward to the door.

Raph took out his sai blades. "Who could possibly be in here?"

Leo let down his guard and pointed to something in the living room. "Her." He replied.

"April set the alarm off?" Raph was confused as to who the "her" was.

"Not April," Leo said. "Her." He pointed again.

Raph looked. "Shell."

"Who is her?" Master Splinter looked and noticed a little girl.

"That's the little girl who robbed the bank." Leo replied.

"That is her?" Master Splinter whispered.

"What is she even doing here? How did she find this place?" Raph wondered.

* * *

Ann: That's the end of that chapter. I know nothing really happened, but Raph and Leo made up and now we have a couple of questions to answer in the next chapter. Also, sorry it took a while to update. School and finals were horrible, but it's summer vacation now, so now I'll hopefully be able to update a lot more. Thanks for reading and please review!


	7. Chapter 7

Ann: Thanks again to xS.E.Raglandx and PuldohFAN! for reviewing. I really appreciate it.

Chapter Seven

"Great. We lost her." Donnie turned to Mikey.

"This kid is good." Mikey looked all around him and his brother, but they two of them couldn't find that little thief anywhere.

"If neither Leo or Raph or us could catch her, then how is she going to get caught?" Donnie asked.

Mikey shrugged. "Defiantly not the police. I think we were closer to catching her than they were," Mikey scratched the back of his head as he finished looking around. "Yep. She's gone."

Donnie shook his head. "Yeah, I think you're right. We were a lot closer to catching her than the police were. I guess this means that we're going to have to try harder the next time we come across her," He looked Mikey in the eye. "She's been gone for a while now, Mikey."

"I know," Mikey nodded. "You never know, though. She could magically turn up again thinking that you and I are gone." He thought.

"I don't think so. We've been sitting on this rooftop for a while. If she thought we were gone and left, that would have been a while ago. We probably would have missed her." Donnie explained.

"What if we did miss her?" Mikey asked, giving it a second thought.

Donnie glared at Mikey. "Come on. Let's just go back to the lair."

* * *

"Leo, what is that kid doing here?" Raph asked in a whisper.

Leo shrugged. "How should I know?" He whispered back.

"How did she even find this place?" Raph asked again.

"Again, how should I know?" Leo replied.

"I could have been talking to Master Splinter, you know." Raph could tell Leo was getting a bit annoyed with his stupid questions.

Both Leo and Raph turned to Master Splinter. Master Splinter looked back at the two of them and then shrugged at Raph. "How should I know? I did not even know what this little girl looked like."

Raph rolled his eyes.

"We have to get her out of here." Leo stated.

"No, really?" Raph responded.

"I'll take care of it." Leo was about to walk down into the living room.

Raph put his hand in front of his brother, stopping him. "No, I'll take care of it. You took care of it the last time, remember?"

Leo hesitated to answer, but finally nodded his head. "Alright, Raph. You can go talk to her."

"Thank you," Raph cut in front of Leo to go down into the living room, but was held back by an arm swinging in front of him. "Now what?" He turned around.

"Raphael, I feel as though you are going to come on too strong with this little girl. Maybe I should handle it." Master Splinter suggested,

Raph sighed. "She needs someone to come on too strong with her. Otherwise, she's going to keep running away and stealing like this! Where are her parents, anyway?" Raph quickly turned to Leo with that sudden question. He knew neither Leo or Master Splinter was going to know the answer to it, but he decided to throw it out there anyway.

"That's a good question." Leo replied.

"Raphael, I still feel that I should be the one to talk to her. She is probably lonely and scared." Master Splinter explained, ignoring the last question.

"She wouldn't feel this way if she stayed home." Raph replied.

"This is why I am not letting you talk to her," Master Splinter waved his finger at Raph. "You have to be gentle with her. How old is she? Seven?"

"That's what Donnie and I thought at first, too," Raph crossed his arms over his chest. "But she's not."

"How old is she?" Leo asked.

"Thirteen." Raph replied nodding.

"Thirteen?" Master Splinter echoed.

"How do you know that?" Leo wondered.

"She told us," Raph answered. "Well, us meaning me and Donnie. When Donnie and I first ran into her we were trying to talk to her as calmly as possible and she got mad at us saying how she wasn't as young as seven. She's thirteen."

Master Splinter glanced down at the girl again. "She does not look thirteen, Raphael."

Raph shrugged. "What do you want me to do about it? I thought she was seven too."

Master Splinter shook his head. "Well," he began. "No matter what her age, she is probably confused and in some sort of trouble. There must be some sort of a reason as to why she is doing this." Master Splinter began to walk down the stairs to go into the living room.

Raph nodded. "Yep. And the Purple Dragons are in some sort of trouble too. That's why they always steal."

Leo rolled his eyes. "Raph, the Purple Dragons know better."

"A thirteen years old kid should know better too!" Raph remarked.

Master Splinter stopped in his tracks and turned back around to Raph. "As I have said before," He turned back around and started walking down the stairs again. "This is why I am not letting to talk to her."

Raph threw his arms up in the air and watched Master Splinter approach the kid. "What should we do up here?"

"We should probably go into the bedroom so she doesn't hear or see us," Leo walked into the bedroom. "We don't want to scare her off again. She's actually staying put for once."

Raph stood behind a wall and peeked out a little. "There's no need to go into the bedroom. We're ninjas for cryin' out loud!"

"Excuse me?" Master Splinter slowly approached the little girl. He didn't get too close to her, however. He didn't want to scare her away.

The girl slowly turned around. "Who are you?" She asked.

"I am Master Splinter. May I ask who you are?" Master Splinter asked.

"Jean." She replied.

"Do you have a last name?" Master Splinter sat down on the couch.

"Just Jean." Jean replied.

Master Splinter nodded. "Okay, then. May I ask what you are doing down here in the sewers?"

"I didn't mean to come down here in the sewers," Now Jean started to get worried. Master Splinter might be mad at her for coming in here. "I mean, I meant to come down here into the sewers, but I was going to come right out," She paused as she thought how to word this. She wasn't even sure if he was going to believe her or not. "I couldn't find a way out, though. So, I decided to look around for one and I found this place."

Master Splinter nodded. "Yes. This is my home."

"Why do you live in the sewers? It stinks down here." Jean asked, bluntly.

"You get used to the smell." Master Splinter responded. He opened his mouth to ask another question, but was interrupted by Jean.

"Why are you a giant rat?" She asked, but caught herself. "I mean, not to sound...rude or anything."

Master Splinter couldn't help but smile. "That, my dear, is a very long story. A story to be told some other time."

Jean made a confused face, but pushed the feeling aside.

"Why did you run down here into the sewers?" Master Splinter quickly asked before she asked another question.

Jean hesitated to respond. "I was running away from somebody." She told the truth, but she knew that she was going to end up getting in trouble for it. She didn't want Master Splinter to turn her into the police like those giant turtles were trying to do.

"Why were you running away?" Master Splinter wondered.

"I was being chased." Jean decided to leave out the whole 'robbing-the-bank' part out of her answer.

"I could have figured that out," Master Splinter replied. "Why were you being chased, though? Do you know who was chasing you? I just want to help you that is all."

Jean didn't want to answer the first question. She was going to only answer the second question if she could, but she didn't know the answer to the second question. If she told him that a couple of giant turtles were chasing her, he might think she was going crazy or something. _Well...he _is_ a giant rat. I suppose he would believe me. _Jean opened her mouth to reply, but heard a noise. She slowly turned her head and saw a red bandana peeking out from behind the wall upstairs. She recognized it being on one of the turtles. "Him." She pointed upstairs.

Master Splinter closed his eyes with a sigh. _Raphael..._

Leo came out from the bedroom and glared at Raph, coming into the open. "Nice job, Ninja."

Raph came out from behind the wall. "Oh, shut up."

Master Splinter turned to Jean. "But these two have been here the entire time. Leonardo and Raphael could not have been the two chasing you."

"I know what I saw," Jean replied. "First it was the red one and the purple one. Then it was just the red one and the blue one ended up catching me a little while later. Now it's the purple one again and a random orange one that seemed to pop out of no where!" Jean sat down on the armchair across from Master Splinter. She now wished that she had never come into the sewers. Or at least never found the lair.

"I think Donnie and Mikey accidentally chased her into the sewers." Leo stated.

Master Splinter nodded. "I think so."

"Leo? Raph?" Mikey came into the lair. "We found that little thief."

"But she got away from us too." Donnie came into the lair following Mikey.

The two of them paused once they saw Jean sitting down on the armchair.

Mikey turned to Donnie and pointed to her. "I found her again."

* * *

Ann: I hope you liked this chapter. I'll try to update as soon as I can. Thanks for reading and please review!


	8. Chapter 8

Ann: Thanks once again to xS.E.Raglandx and PuldohFAN! For reviewing. :)

Chapter Eight

Raph came down from the second floor and stood next to Mikey. "Yeah, so did we." He rolled his eyes at Mikey at his last comment.

Mikey smiled and shrugged. He didn't know what else to say. He was just as confused as everyone else was.

Leo followed Raph down to the first floor and stood on the other side of Mikey. "Um, are these the two who were chasing you?"

Jean stared at them all. She ignored Leo's question. She was puzzled. She didn't think that robbing the bank was going to drive her to be chased by giant turtles. That was enough. Now that she's run into the sewers and found out that there are four giant turtles living in a lair down here? Not to mention that they live with a giant rat? She didn't answer. She heard him, but she was too overwhelmed. The poor girl couldn't get over the fact that this was happening to her. _I don't think I could even _dream_ of something like this..._

"Um," Jean began. "Why are there four of you?" She knew that there were at least two of them, but she thought that they were just changing bandanas and weapons.

Donnie, Leo, Raph, and Mikey all turned to each other. They were sort of expecting her to say something like that. They didn't think she was going to say it at that moment, but they weren't surprised. The four brothers all turned to Master Splinter to respond to that one.

Master Splinter shifted his weight a bit. "Okay, little one. Get into a comfortable position. This is a long story."

Jean didn't really move. She just continued to stare at Master Splinter. She looked interested, but she really wasn't.

"A long time ago," Master Splinter began. "I was a little rat. I was normal. I used to live in Japan with my Master Yoshi..."

Leo, Mikey, and Raph all sat down next to Donnie on the couch. They have heard this story many times before.

"My master practiced ninjitsu," Master Splinter continued. "He practiced everyday while I watched and copied his every move from my cage. Then, one day, a man invaded with his clan called The Foot. His name was Oroku Saki. He killed my Master Yoshi then and there. I tried to stop him, but he cut off part of my ear." He explained, holding his ear so Jean could see.

Jean made a disgusted face.

"I was on my own after that. I went to go live in the sewers. That is when I found four baby turtles walking in strange ooze. Using a spoon and a coffee can, I gathered them up. The next morning, I had realized that they had double in size. I was bigger as well. I had figured it was from the ooze. Then, one of them spoke. I decided to raise them as my sons and I taught them ninjitsu like my Master had taught me. I then named them," Master Splinter pointed to each turtle as he stated their name. "Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo."

Jean hesitated before saying anything. She wasn't sure if Master Splinter was done or not.

Mikey, hating the silence, awkwardly points to Master Splinter with a smile. "He's Master Splinter."

Jean realized that the story was over and seemed to perk up again. "That's...random." She found it hard to find the right word.

Master Splinter couldn't help but smile. He didn't blame her for reacting the way she did. "Well, that is our life story."

"What about you?" Leo asked.

Everyone turned to look at Leo.

Leo gave them all a look as if saying he knew what he was doing. He just wanted to know a little bit more about her. He wasn't expecting a 13 years old girl to be stealing and things like that.

Jean sighed. "Well, I guess it's only fair," She muttered. She didn't really want to and she wasn't exactly sure if she should, but she decided she would anyway. I mean, besides being chased from them again, she probably was never going to see them again. "My name is Jean and I'm 13 years old..."

"Jean what?" Mikey wanted specifics.

"Just Jean." She glared at him.

"Oh...okay...you can continue..." Mikey slowly sat back on the couch.

"Anyway," Jean continued. I have three older sisters. No brothers. I was a twin, but my mother died before she could give birth to her."

Master Splinter slowly glanced at his sons. They were all making depressing faces.

"When I was about five years old," Jean was looking at the floor this entire time. "My oldest sister, Sabrina, died from a car accident. It wasn't her fault, by the way," Jean decided to throw that in there, because the other person died as well and her sister and they're families were arguing about it in court over whose fault it was. My second oldest sister, Melody, is away at college right now. She lives there in another state, so she's never home. Sometimes she doesn't even come back for Christmas. She's in California. I live with my third oldest sister, Tabitha. That's kind of the reason as to why I steal and run away a lot..."

Raph turned to Donnie. "Run away?" He mouthed.

Donnie shrugged. He only thought she stole.

"My sister's boyfriend, Jamie, lives with us. The two of them are always together and never really have any time to even look at me. They're always...in the bedroom." Jean didn't want to say the exact word.

The turtles exchanged weird looks. They couldn't believe what they were hearing.

Jean shrugged. "So, that's it. Can I go now?" Jean stood up.

"Where is your father?" Master Splinter asked.

"Oh," Jean sat back down. "He...how should I say this?" She paused, looking up at the ceiling thinking. "He disappeared a couple of years ago."

"What do you mean disappeared?" Donnie wondered.

Jean shrugged. "He left. He's gone."

"You mean he walked out on your family?" Raph asked.

Jean shook her head. "He disappeared."

"And you don't know why?" Mikey asked.

"He mysteriously disappeared." She kept repeating herself, getting annoyed a little.

"That's weird," Leo stated. "What exactly happened?"

Jean sighed. "If I answer, can I go home?" She asked impatiently.

Master Splinter nodded. "Yes, you may go home after this."

"He mysteriously disappeared," She repeated once again. "I don't know why or what happened to him. He leaves for work around six o'clock in the morning, so I don't usually see him. So, I woke up one morning, he was gone. As usual. He was at work. He comes home around five o'clock in the afternoon. When 6:30 PM rolled around, my sister called his work. He never showed up for work. Then she called the police. It'll be three years that he disappeared in June. We still haven't found him."

None of the turtles could respond. They didn't know what to say.

"Hey, speaking of June," Mikey randomly spoke up. "It's February. Why aren't you in school?"

Jean's mouth gaped open. "Um," She stammered. "You said that after that last question, I could go home."

"Okay, after this question, you can go home." Raph replied.

"Yeah, why aren't you in school?" Donnie repeated the question.

Jean hesitated to answer. "Well...I've been on break." She lied. She knew it was a terrible lie, but nothing was coming to her mind as to why she hasn't been in school.

Mikey giggled. "Oh, come on. Even I know that that's a lie."

Master Splinter put his hand up to silence all four of his sons. "That is all Jean," He could tell she was getting overwhelmed. He knew she was keeping something from them, but he didn't want to push her any harder. "You can go back home now. My sons will show you the way out."

Jean nodded and stood up. "Thanks." _Finally..._ She said to herself. That was all she wanted to do was to go home. She couldn't, however. When Master Splinter said that the boys would show her the way out, she hoped that he only meant the way out of the sewers. She couldn't have the turtles follow her home to make sure she got there safely. She wasn't going to be going home. She all ready old them her life story, but she didn't want to make up more lies about why she's not going to go home. She didn't mean for the lies to get this far.

Raph stood up and motioned with hand for everyone to follow him. "All right, let's go, guys."

Jean walked around Master Splinter, trying not to make eye contact with him, and she followed Raph out of the lair with the other three boys walking behind her.

"So where do you live exactly?" Leo walked up next to Jean.

Jean's eyes looked all around the sewers. "Oh, well, it doesn't matter because I can walk myself home. I just need help getting out of the sewers."

"It's late, Jean," Donnie scolded. "You should have someone walk home with you."

"Yeah," Mikey agreed. "This is New York, remember?"

Jean shrugged. "Um, I don't need any help. I'll be fine."

Raph stopped and turned around to face her. "Look, just because you go running around the streets of New York robbing banks, doesn't mean you'll be safe when you just casually walk home in the middle of the night."

"But it's not the middle of the night," Jean showed him her watch. "It's ten o'clock!"

Raph turned around, not wanting to argue with her. "We're gonna walk you home anyway."

Jean sighed. "You don't have to."

"It's just to make sure you're safe." Leo smiled down at her.

She rolled her eyes. "Fine." _Great, _She thought to herself. _Now how am I going to ditch them as soon as we get out of the sewers?_

"Whoa." Mikey gaped up at the ceiling.

"What?" Jean quickly got out of her thoughts and pretended she was paying attention.

"Look at the water coming into the sewers." Leo noticed, as he looked up at the manhole too.

"It's rain," Jean stated. "Yes, it's a lot of it, but it won't kill us. It's just water." She said sarcastically.

"Yes, but judging by the amount of water coming down and hearing thunder above us," Donnie added. "It's a storm. It'll be hard to push open the manhole cover and _if_ we end up getting it open, more water will pour harder and faster than it did with the manhole cover on. Thus, it'll be hard to get out of the sewers."

Jean gave Donnie a blank stare. "Yeah, whatever. Now what do we do?" She was fed up with staying in the sewers this long. She had never meant to stay down here for more than a couple of minutes. She just wanted a new place to hide. Instead, she ended up in the place where the people she was running from lived, she blabbed her whole life story, stayed at the lair for more than a couple of hours, she wasn't able to get away from them because they were going to walk her home, and now they weren't even able to leave the sewers because of a little rain water.

Raph turned to his brothers. "There's nothing much we can do."

"We wait until it stops." Mikey added.

"When it is going to stop?" Jean asked.

"Well, by the volume of the thunder, I'd say the storm just started. It will probably end in about a half hour to forty-five minutes or so." Donnie confirmed.

Jean threw her head back. "So am I ever going to get out of here?"

"Probably not tonight," Leo stated. "Come on. Let's get back to the lair."

Jean followed the four turtles back to the lair. _Well, I guess I can look on the bright side. I don't have to figure out a way to ditch them as soon as we get out of here...but now I have to figure out a way to get out of here._

"Master Splinter?" Leo entered the lair.

"Yes, my sons? Back all ready? That was quick." Master Splinter appeared from his room on the second floor.

"We didn't bring her home." Raph stated.

"There's a storm. We can't get out of the sewers." Mikey added.

Master Splinter nodded. "Very well. Where is Jean?"

Donnie moved aside. Jean was standing directly behind him. "She's right here."

Master Splinter went back into his room and came back out with a pillow and a couple of blankets. "Jean, I will make up the couch for you. Leonardo, Donatello, Raphael, and Michelangelo? I want to see the four of you in the dojo, please."

The four brothers nodded and left the living room.

"Goodnight, Jean." Mikey called.

Jean waved her hand. "Uh, goodnight?" She responded.

"Goodnight, Miss...Uh, Jean." Master Splinter bowed, stammering over her last name.

Jean lied down on the couch and looked in the direction where the dojo was. _Either they're being weird and practicing at 10:20 at night, or they're talking about me. _She guessed. She shrugged everything off, however, and decided to get some sleep. Although, before she got some sleep, she set the alarm on her watch for four o'clock in the morning.

* * *

Ann: Yay! Another chapter done! I hope you enjoyed this chapter and I'll get the next one posted as soon as I can. Thanks for reading and please review!


	9. Chapter 9

Ann: Thanks to PuldohFAN! and turtlegirl for reviewing. Thanks guys!

Chapter Nine

Master Splinter entered the dojo and stood before his sons. "My sons," He began. "What do you think of Jean?" He asked.

"Uh, she's okay," Mikey was confused. "I guess."

Master Splinter shook her head. "No. I mean her story. What do you think of her story?"

"Melancholic." Donnie replied.

"What?" Mikey turned to him.

"Depressing." Donnie replied.

"Oh..." Mikey understood.

"Yeah, that poor kid has it rough." Raph added.

"Master Splinter," Leo crossed his arms over his chest and leaned back against the wall. "What are you getting at?"

Master Splinter sighed. "I just do not know what to do with her. You listen to her story and I do not feel as though we should send her back home."

"What you mean like keep her?" Mikey asked.

"Adopt her," Master Splinter corrected. "Although, we are not going to do that because I know that that is wrong. Besides, she would be in danger with us."

"She's wanted by the police. I think she's in enough danger all ready." Raph responded dryly.

"Tomorrow morning Jean is going to go home, correct?" Master Splinter said.

"Yeah." Donnie nodded.

Master Splinter shrugged. "I do not know. It is a good thing that she is going to go home, but part of me believes her story. There is another part of me; however, that does not believe her story."

"Why would she lie about her sisters being dead and things like that though?" Leo asked.

"That is what I do not understand." Master Splinter replied.

"Well, I never actually thought about her story. Now that you've mentioned it, I don't know if I believe her or not," Donnie stated. "But that's not what I was thinking."

Leo turned to Donnie. "What do you mean that's not what you were thinking. What were you thinking?"

"If she made up a story like that, she really must not want to go home. Who knows what's going to go on when she gets home? Who even knows if she's going to make it home?" Donnie asked.

"I don't understand," Mikey spoke up. "Why wouldn't she make it home?"

"I mean, we walk her home, we leave to go back to the lair, she runs away from home again. Then she steals again and so on and so on." Donnie explained.

"I never thought about it that way before." Raph said.

"I never thought about it period." Mikey added.

"That is a good point, Donatello. She probably will not go back home. If she did make up a story like that, something must be going on. Even if that story is the truth, I still feel like she is hiding something from us." Master Splinter observed.

Leo turned to his father. "So, what do we do, Master Splinter?"

"That is why I brought you four in here," Master Splinter replied, staring at the floor. He looked up at the four of them. "I was hoping one of you would have an idea."

"I say we just send her back home and if we run into her again, we'll go from there." Mikey suggested.

"That won't get us anywhere, Mikey." Leo said.

"Besides, like I said before," Raph added. "She's all ready in plenty of trouble with the police. That's probably why she's afraid to go home. Her parents are going to know that something happened."

"Yeah, but what if she doesn't have any parents?" Donnie asked.

Raph stared at him. "What are you talking about?"

"What if her story was the truth? If it was the truth, she's not going to go home because of her sister. If that story was a fake, she could not want to go home because her parents would be upset with her for stealing, yes, but what if her parents asked her to steal for them?" Donnie tried to go in every direction when it came to analyzing this.

"What kind of parents would make their kid steal?" Mikey asked.

"It happened, Michelangelo." Master Splinter responded.

"Or," Donnie could figure out one other explanation. "There could be a third story and _that's_ the truth."

"What third story? How could there be a third story?" Leo asked.

"The third story is in the middle of the other two stories. She took the third story, split it into two, so that she created two lies. One good one and one bad one." Donnie explained.

"But she never told us the good lie. She only told us the bad lie." Raph protested, referring the story where both her parents are alive as the good lie and the one that she told them the bad lie.

"Exactly. She told us the bad lie, figuring that we would come up with the good lie ourselves and end up believing that one." Donnie clarified.

"But, that's exactly what we ended up doing." Leo stated.

Donnie nodded. "I know."

"This is so confusing!" Mikey buried his face in his hands.

"And yet," Raph looked over to Donnie with a confused look. "It makes sense."

"You know what, Donatello? I think you may be on to something." Master Splinter agreed with Donnie's theory.

"Okay," Leo spoke up again. "So, if what Donnie says is true, then what are we going to do with Jean? How are we going to fix this and allow her to trust us?"

Master Splinter noticed Mikey yawn. "We will sleep on it and hopefully come up with something in the morning. As of right now, there is nothing that we can do about it," He explained. "Goodnight, my sons." He slowly walked out of the dojo and upstairs to his room to go to sleep.

The four brothers were still in the dojo watching him. They all turned to each other and shrugged, not knowing what else to do or say since Master Splinter wasn't there anymore.

"Goodnight." They all said to each other and went their separate ways to their own bedrooms.

* * *

Jean's alarm on her watch began to beep. She rolled over with a groan coming out of her mouth as she slowly blinked her eyes open. _Why can't this thing play music? It makes me feel as though I'm getting up to go to school. _Jean turned off her watch and sat up looking around. It was four o'clock in the morning. As far as she could tell, everyone was asleep in their rooms. No one was downstairs, so she was all by herself.

She pulled the covers off of her and sat up. She continued to look around. She didn't want to wake anybody and she didn't want them to ask her what she was doing. Well, she could say that she was just going to the bathroom, but they would soon know how much of a lie that was when they woke up the next morning.

Jean crept up the stairs and looked at all the doors. _Okay...which bedroom is whose? _She wondered. She shrugged her shoulder. _I'm going to go into all of the bedrooms, so I guess it doesn't matter. _First, she entered Leo's room. She opened the door a tiny crack and once she noticed someone sleeping in the bed she silently walked in. She was no ninja, but after robbing banks for a little while, she soon got used to walking around silently. She looked all around Leo's room. She checked his dresser, under the bed, everywhere. She opened the closet door and smiled. _Found it._

Once she had what she needed, she went to the next door. It was Raph's room. She opened the door slightly and again, when she noticed he was sound asleep in his bed, she opened the door all the way and entered. She looked all around his room as well. Although, it didn't take her as long as it had in Leo's room. What she needed from Raph was lying right on the table next to his bed.

Now, she checked the next door. It was Donnie's bedroom. She went through the same steps as she did for Raph and Leo's bedroom. Once she realized Donnie was asleep too, she walked in and found what she needed in his closet as well.

She went into Mikey's room next. It didn't take her long to find what she needed from him. Everything was on the floor. Sure, it was hard to step over, but most of the stuff on the floor were the things she wanted. She just had to pick which ones she wanted. She stepped over something to get to what she wanted. Or, so she thought she stepped over it.

Mikey opened his eyes as soon as he heard a loud thud. "...Huh...?" He slowly began to sit up.

Jean's jaw dropped as she lay on her stomach on the floor. _Stupid comic book! _She slipped on the comic book and woke Mikey up. Now how was she going to get out of there? She crawled like they do in the army and stopped by Mikey's bed.

He was busy looking around his bedroom. "Hello?" He asked groggily.

Jean slowly stood up. She was a bit behind him, so he couldn't see her. She grabbed his shoulders and laid him back down. "Sh," She whispered. "No one's here. Go back to sleep."

Mikey closed his eyes and smiled. "Okay." He rolled over the opposite way Jean was.

She let out a sigh of relief. _That was close. That was _too_ close. _She picked up a couple of things off of the floor and quickly, but silently and carefully, she exited the room and closed the door tightly behind her.

She gathered everything that she took. _There. I think I have everything. I remember how to get out of the sewers from the lair and hopefully the rain has stopped, so I'm good to go. _Jean then ran down the stairs and out of the lair.

* * *

Ann: Haha! Now she robbed the turtles! XD She just doesn't give up, does she? Also, sorry that this chapter was a little on the short side, but this was basically just setting up for the next couple of chapters. Anyway, thanks for reading and please review on your way out. Thanks!


	10. Chapter 10

Ann: Thanks to xS.E.Raglandx for reviewing! :)

Chapter Ten

Leo blinked his eyes open groggily. He rolled over with a stretch and glanced at his clock. Seven o'clock in the morning. With a sigh, Leo sat up in his bed and stretched once more. His eyes were still half shut and he felt like lying back down and falling back to sleep, but he knew he wasn't able to do that. If he got out of bed to get something to eat, then he might feel more awake.

So, Leo yanked the covers off of him and tossed them at the end of the bed. He swung his legs over the side and stood up. As he regained his balance, he began to walk towards the door to go down to the kitchen to get something to eat for breakfast. That was when he noticed his room.

Leo paused before he placed his hand on the doorknob. He slowly turned around and looked about the room. It was a mess. Not a total mess, but it was messy than it was when he went to bed last night. He also noticed that his closet was open. He walked over to it and looked in it. "My suitcase is gone..." He muttered to himself. He was confused. He had an idea that Jean would do something like that, but Jean was down stairs sleeping.

He left his bedroom, closing the door behind him, and looked down to the first floor, where he saw Donnie. "Donnie?" He called.

His brother turned around and looked up. "Hey, Leo," He walked over to the stairs, not bothering to walk up them. He just shouted to Leo from the bottom of the stairs. "She's gone."

"She left?" Leo was shocked. Okay, maybe it was her who stole his suitcase and seeing as she ran away, he's probably not going to ever get it back.

"Did she..." Donnie hesitated. "Get into your room last night, by any chance?" He wondered.

Leo nodded. "She took my suitcase. Why? Did she take something of yours?"

"She only took two blankets and a pillow." Donnie replied.

Leo let out a sigh of relief. "At least she didn't steal anything valuable like our money or..."

"SOMEONE TOOK MY SAIS!" Raph burst through the door of his bedroom, rage filling up his eyes.

"Or maybe she did." Donnie finished Leo's sentence.

Leo fully turned his attention to Raph. "Wait, did you look everywhere? You're positive that your sais are missing?"

Raph put his hands on his hips. "Leo, I think I would know where I put my sais last night and even if they were gone the next morning, of course I would look for them! I put them on my nightstand last night, like I always do, and when I woke up this morning they were gone! I checked on the floor, in the draws, even under the bed! Everywhere!"

"Did you notice anything else missing?" Donnie finally decided to come up the stairs and he stood next to Leo.

Raph paused. "Um, no. I was just mainly worried about my weapons!" His voice grew louder and louder as he spoke that sentence.

"You should go check to see if anything else is missing." Leo suggested.

Raph hesitated. "Why? Are you guys missing your weapons too?"

Donnie shook his head. "No. She took two blankets and a pillow from me."

"And she stole my suitcase." Leo added.

"Wait a minute," Raph put his hand up to silence them. "She?" He repeated. "You mean...Jean?"

The other two nodded.

"Where is she? I'll kill her?" Raph walked over to the edge and looked down onto the couch, where she was supposed to be sleeping.

Suddenly, Mikey came out of his bedroom looking as though he was about to cry. "Someone took my comic books."

"Why would she need comic books?" Donnie wondered.

"Why would she need my sais?!" Raph added.

"She took five. Issues number three, eighteen, twenty-one, forty-four, and sixty-four." Mikey ranted on.

Raph raised an eyebrow. "How can you tell which issues are missing? It looks like Comic Book Galore threw up in your room and you can tell which issues are missing?" He couldn't believe this.

Mikey nodded.

Leo rubbed his forehead. "Okay, now what do we do?"

"Like I said before, we kill her." Raph answered.

"She's gone." Donnie informed him.

"She left?!" Mikey perked up. "With my comic books?!"

"With my sais?" Raph joined him.

Leo nodded. "I don't know where she is."

"She could be anywhere," Donnie added. "I don't even know what time she left at."

Mikey sat down on the floor. "Well now what do we do?"

Leo leaned against the wall. "There's nothing much we can do."

"We have to look for her!" Raph protested.

"Where are we going to look?" Donnie asked.

"We look--" Raph began, but was interrupted.

"What are you four doing up here?" Master Splinter emerged from his bedroom. "Why do you not go down to the kitchen to get breakfast," He was now on his way downstairs. "You know, let me sleep for a little while longer..."

Mikey jumped up and ran down the stairs after his father. "Wait, Master Splinter! When you woke up this morning--"

"I heard Raphael slamming his bedroom door." Master Splinter interrupted.

Mikey shook his head. "No, no, no. I mean, did you notice anything different from your room?"

Master Splinter thought about it for a minute and then finally shook his head. "No. Why do you ask me such a question, Michelangelo? Did you do something?" He raised an eyebrow at the last question.

Mikey sighed. "No. Jean left in the middle of the night."

Master Splinter widened his eyes a bit in surprise. "Really?"

"But before she left, she came into all of our rooms and took something of ours." Leo explained.

"Like what?" Master Splinter asked.

"She took my suitcase." Leo explained.

"She took two blankets and a pillow from me." Donnie stated.

"And she took five of my comic books!" Mikey whined.

"And my sais..." Raph growled.

Master Splinter looked over at Raph. "She stole your sais?"

Raph slightly nodded. He was too angry to really talk about it.

Master Splinter sighed. "Well, she did not steal anything from me. At least not that I noticed. She was never in my room last night. I do not understand why she would rob us like that and then leave."

"I know, after we were so nice to her." Donnie shook his head.

"She probably planned the rainstorm." Mikey pouted.

"I highly doubt she can control the weather, Mikey." Leo stated.

"I don't care," Raph walked down the stairs. "We're going to go catch her."

"How?" Donnie asked.

"Where?" Leo wondered.

"When?" Mikey added.

"We're going to watch out for her, at the bank, and right now," Raph answered all three of their questions. "She didn't steal any money from us, did she? She's probably going to be back at the bank sometime soon. We should leave now. The last time she robbed the bank, she did it in broad daylight. We have to hurry."

"You know, Raph has a point," Donnie agreed. "The bank is a good spot that she would probably be. We better get there fast." He walked down the stairs and stood next to Raph.

"How do we know that she didn't all ready steal from the bank this morning?" Mikey finished walking down the stairs and stood in front of Donnie and Raph.

"The bank just opened about fifteen minutes ago," Leo was the last one to come down the stairs and stand next to Mikey. "She wouldn't have had enough time to steal from it."

Master Splinter finished walking down the stairs and looked at all four of his sons. "All right, boys. Bring your shell cells, just in case. And be careful, my sons. She seems harmless, but I believe that she is a...troublemaker." He informed them, stumbling over the last word a bit.

Leo nodded. "Yep. Everyone has everything, right? Weapons? Shell cells?"

Donnie nodded.

"I have mine." Mikey replied.

"No." Raph crossed his arms like a little kid.

"Then hurry up and go get..." Leo stopped himself. "Oh. Never mind."

Raph rolled his eyes. "Let's go!" He left the lair. "I'm getting sick and tired of chasing this kid!"

"You and me both!" Donnie chased after his brother.

"Wait for me!" Mikey ran after the two of them.

"See you when we get home, Master Splinter." Leo bowed and then ran out of the lair after his brothers.

Master Splinter bowed back. "Good luck, my sons." He called after them.

* * *

Ann: Now they're going to try to catch her again. How many times have they tried catching her? What number is this? LOL. I hope you enjoyed this chapter. Thanks for reading and please review!


	11. Chapter 11

Ann: Thanks to xS.E.Raglandx and PuldohFAN! once again for reviewing!

Chapter Eleven

Donnie looked over the rooftop and down to the streets. It was going to midnight and there was still no sign of Jean. He sighed. "She better be coming tonight." He broke the awkward silence between him and his brothers.

Leo stood up and walked over to Donnie and looked down at the streets, as well. "She's still not coming? Maybe she'll be coming later on tonight. I mean, she's robbed the bank at a later time than midnight, hasn't see?"

Mikey was lying down on his shell with his arms and legs spread apart. "I hope she comes soon..." He whined. "I'm getting really, really, really, really, really..."

"We get it!" Raph snapped.

Mikey paused for a minute. "Really really bored." He finished.

Raph glared at his younger brother.

"We can tell." Donnie sighed.

Leo looked back at the streets. "Where does she even stay? I mean, has no one else thought of that? She runs away from home. Where does she live since she's not at her house with her mother...Er, her sister? I mean...whoever she lives with." Leo wasn't sure which story to follow.

Donnie nodded to Leo. "That's a good point. I don't know where she goes. Where ever it is, it's a good hiding spot."

Mikey sat up and looked over to Raph. Raph was sitting upright with his knees tucked in looking in the other direction. He seemed tense. Mikey lifted a finger and poked him in the arm. "Poke." Mikey said.

Raph slowly turned his head to face Mikey. "Mikey..."

"Poke."

"Stop." Raph glared at him.

Mikey smiled and put his finger down. "It's fun."

"So is beating you up." Raph remarked.

Mikey frowned.

"Raph...Mikey..." Leo scolded.

"He started it." Both Raph and Mikey replied at the same time. After, Raph turned to glare at Mikey while Mikey smiled at him.

Donnie ignored his brothers and sat down. "This isn't going very well, is it?" He asked. "We haven't seen her at all. You'd think we'd see her walking around or something. Like going to...where ever she stays."

Leo shrugged. "Well, New York is a pretty big city."

"But she should be somewhere nearby," Raph stood up and walked over to Donnie and Leo. "If she's always robbing from this bank, she probably lives close by."

"That's true." Leo agreed.

Donnie stood back up. "Master Splinter is probably wondering where we are right now."

"Nonsense," Mikey walked over to the three of them. "We told Master Splinter we would be waiting for her. He knows where we are and he knows that we have to get our things back and catch her and everything."

"But he probably didn't know that it was going to take this late." Raph replied.

"I didn't even think that this was going to take us this late." Donnie added.

Leo sighed. "That's true too." He agreed again.

"Maybe she's just not going to be coming tonight." Mikey suggested.

"Why wouldn't she come tonight?" Raph asked. "She's come pretty much every other night."

Leo looked around. "So you'd think they would have police forces out here guarding the place, but whatever. That may be just me." He added sarcastically.

Mikey ignored Leo and replied to Raph. "Which is exactly why she wouldn't come tonight. She probably has a _huge_ stash of money where ever she is. What does she need more for?"

Donnie nodded. "I agree with what Mikey's trying say. The more she comes here, the more she risks her chances of being caught by the police. Because, like Leo said, if Jean comes here every single night, the police just might stand guard during the night. Then she won't be able to come back here anymore."

"She can just go to another bank." Raph stated.

"Then we defiantly won't be able to find her." Leo remarked.

Raph rolled his eyes. "I hate this kid."

"Can I say something else?" Mikey raised his hand.

Everyone turned to him. "Yes, Mikey?" Leo replied, wondering why he was pretending he was in school or something.

"Since we're standing over the edge of the roof, she may want to rob the bank right now, but she sees us." Mikey stated.

It was silent for a minute.

"Um," Donnie broke the silence. "Good point."

Raph looked down to the streets. "I don't see her."

"That's the point." Mikey replied.

Leo walked back over to the middle of the roof. "Then we'll stay over here."

"But then we won't be able to see her." Raph argued.

"And she'll probably still know that we're up here." Donnie added.

"Yeah, she could have heard me say that," Mikey agreed with Donnie. "You never know."

Leo sighed. "Then what do you want us to do, guys?" He asked. He was getting annoyed with this. He wanted to go back home and go to sleep. He didn't care if his suit case was gone. He could get another one. And Donnie had plenty of blankets and pillows. But they did need to get Raph's sais back. Also, he didn't think that Mikey was going to be too happy about losing five comic book issues. Not that it mattered, anyway. He probably had them all memorized.

The other three all looked at each other. They didn't really know what else to do except stay on the roof.

Donnie shrugged. "Do you guys just want to go home? I'm pretty sure we're going to catch her eventually."

Raph glared at Donnie. "Like when, Donnie? You have your bo staff! I still need my sais!"

"Like now." Mikey replied to Raph's first question as he looked down from the rooftop.

Leo, Donnie, and Raph all rushed to the side. "What do you mean?" Raph asked.

Mikey pointed down to the street. "She's right over there. At least, I think that's her anyway."

"It looks like her." Donnie added.

"I think it is her." Leo nodded.

Raph slowly turned his head to look at his brothers. "How can you guys tell?!"

"Never mind," Leo answered Raph. "Where is she going?"

"Not to the bank." Donnie responded confused.

"Where is she going?" Mikey asked.

"How should we know?" Raph remarked.

"Well, I know you're not going to know," Mikey smiled. "Since you're blind."

Raph glared at him and opened his mouth to say something, but Donnie stepped in between the two of them.

"Okay, there's no time for arguing." Donnie stated.

"Yeah, Raph," Mikey looked over Donnie. "There's no time for arguing."

"Mikey, shut up." Donnie hit him in the head.

"Thank you." Raph said to Donnie.

Leo was ignoring this whole conversation. He was too busy watching Jean. "I can't tell where she's going. She's not going towards the bank. And she didn't come from the bank. Otherwise, we would have seen her earlier." Leo continued to watch her carefully. She was carrying something, but he wasn't able to make it. "What's she holding?" He asked. "Did she just rob another store right under our noses?"

"Nope," Donnie suddenly had his binoculars out and in hand. "She's carrying your suitcase, Leo. And she has a backpack on her back." He looked over at Raph and Mikey. "I'm going to guess your comic books and sais are either in her backpack or in Leo's suitcase."

"And if they're not?" Raph put his hands on his hips. He was really concerned about his sais.

Donnie hesitated an answer and then finally shrugged. "I have no idea."

Mikey whimpered.

"Oh, shut up!" Raph shouted. "You have your weapons! It's just a couple of comic books!"

Leo took Donnie's binoculars. "She's going somewhere."

"Where?" Donnie asked.

"She's..." Leo tried to answer his question, but he had to wait until Jean did something before he was able to say anything more. "She's..." He repeated as he watched her. "Wait! She's going into the sewers!" Leo exclaimed shocked.

"What?!" Mikey was just as shocked. All four of them were.

Raph glared at nothing. "She better not be trying to rob us again!"

Donnie whipped out his shell cell.

"What are you doing?" Leo put the binoculars away.

"I'm calling Master Splinter," Donnie put the phone to his ear. "We don't know why she's going into the sewers. We don't even know if she's going to go into the lair. We have to let Master Splinter know what she's doing. We have to warn him."

* * *

Ann: Uh, oh...what's she up to now? XD Thanks for reading and please review!


	12. Chapter 12

Ann: Thanks to PuldohFAN! for reviewing.

Chapter Twelve

Jean wandered into the sewers, looking both ways. She was trying to remember which way it was to the lair. She soon began to walk, hoping she was going in the right direction. She pulled her backpack back up onto her shoulders as if slip down to her arms. She was carrying too much stuff. _I hope they're not mad at me..._ Jean sighed to herself. She needed their help now more than ever. This is why she decided to bring their belongings back. _They're probably so mad at me that they're not going to let me step foot inside their lair unless I give them back their things, _Jean paused. _Actually, they might not let me back in at all._

Jean found, what it looked like to be anyway, a door blocking a tunnel. "This must be it," She said loud to herself. She knocked on the door, trying to be as polite as she could, but there was no answer. She knocked on the door again. "I wonder where they are." She asked herself. She didn't think that they might be out looking for her to get their things back.

Jean tried to open the door, assuming that it was locked, but decided to try anyway. Fortunately for her, it wasn't locked. "That was easy," She whispered as she slowly entered the lair. "Um, hello?" She called out to them. Maybe they really were home but they just didn't hear her knocking. Otherwise, why would they leave the door unlocked if no one was home? _Because no one ever goes into the sewers. _Jean replied to herself.

"Hello?" Jean called out again. She looked around the lair looking for either Master Splinter or any one of the turtles. She hoped at least one of them were home. "Guys?" She asked, peeking into the kitchen. She went back into the living and glanced upstairs. "Should I...?" She wondered.

"No," She shook her head. "I shouldn't. They're obviously not home right now, so I'll just wait until they come back." She dropped Leo's suitcase on the floor and tossed her backpack on top of it. She sat down on the couch, not knowing what else to do. All he had to do was wait. That was all she could do.

'What is she doing now?" Donnie asked in a whisper over his shell cell. He was behind his three brothers and couldn't see anything. The four of them were all huddled at the entrance of the lair, peeking in at Jean.

"I don't know. She's just sitting there." Mikey replied.

Master Splinter was on the second floor, watching Jean. "Yes, she is just sitting there. She is not doing any harm. She is just a child; I doubt she could do any harm." Master Splinter smiled at how patient she was being.

"So...now what do we do?" Donnie asked Leo. "We can't just sit out here the entire time she's here. I doubt she could hurt us. Why are we watching her from out here in the first place?"

Mikey turned to Leo as well. "Yeah, why are we spying on her out here? Like Master Splinter said," Mikey began to do his impression of Master Splinter. "She is just a child. I doubt she could do any harm."

Donnie pulled the phone back to his ear, smiling. "He heard that, you know."

Mikey glared at him. "You know--"

Leo put his hand up in the air to silence his brothers. "Do you want her to hear us?" He asked quietly.

Raph nodded. "Yes. I want my Sais back. She brought your suit case back, so I better have my Sais back!"

Master Splinter shook his head. "Oh, this is silly. I am going to go down there and talk to her. The poor girl." He hung up the phone and was about to go down to the first floor.

Raph, not hearing Master Splinter, barged into the lair. "This is stupid. I'm going to go in there and give that kid a piece of my mind!"

Jean was startled when she heard someone open up the lair door. She stood up and watched Raph storm over to her. "H-hi..." She muttered to herself. She could tell he was really angry with her.

"Where are my sais?!" Raph demanded. "Why did you take them? I doubt a thirteen-year-old little girl needs a pair of twin sai blades! And if you're back now, why did you ever bother leaving in the first place? We were going to walk you back home in the morning!" He shouted at the top of his lungs.

Becoming scared, tears began to fill up in Jean's eyes. She tried to fight them back, but she could tell Raph was _really_ upset with her.

Raph softened his gaze. "What? Uh, no. Don't cry! Why are you crying?"

"Good job, Raph," Leo walked into the lair. "I'm sure she came back here for a very good reason and I'm sure she came back with what she stole, seeing as my suit case is right there on the floor." He folded his arms across his chest.

Raph pointed to Jean. "She's crying. Make her stop."

Master Splinter rolled his eyes and finally walked down from the second floor. He put his arm around Jean and walked her back over to the couch. "Do not cry, little one. Raphael was just a little upset."

"A little?!" Raph repeated. He was a little more than _a little_ upset.

"Please, Raph. You've said enough." Leo glared at him.

Donnie and Mikey walked into the lair. "Master Splinter," Donnie called to him. "You hung up on me."

Mikey looked over at Jean and then turned to Raph. "What did you do?"

Raph glowered at him. "Maybe I wasn't the one to do anything to her!"

"Raph just screamed at her," Leo replied. "Where were you?"

Mikey pointed to the door. "Outside trying to help Donnie figure out if the shell cell died or not."

Master Splinter ignored all of his sons. He wiped Jean's eyes. "There. Are you better now?"

Jean nodded. "I think so."

Raph walked over to her. "Look, kid. I'm sorry if I scared you. I just want my sais back. Please. They're like..." Raph searched for the right words to describe it. "Apart of me." He ended.

Mikey snorted. "That has got to be the corniest thing you've ever said, Raph." He giggled.

Raph glared at him. "Shut up, Mikey."

Jean bent down and picked up her backpack. She opened it and took out a folded pillow. "Here you go, uh..."

"Donnie," Donnie took his pillow back. "Thanks."

Jean dropped her backpack back onto the floor and picked up Leo's suit case. She opened that up and took out two folded blankets. "And here are your blankets." She added, handing them to him.

Donnie took them out of her hands. "Thanks."

Next, Jean pulled out five comic books. She held them out. "He--"

"YAY!" Mikey swiped the comic books out of her hand and hugged them. "Thank you! Thank you! Thank you!"

"--re." Jean finished her word. She shrugged it off and took out a pair of twin sai blades. Careful not to accidentally cut herself, she slowly pulled them out of the suit case and handed them to Raph. "Here's your sais, Raph." She said.

Raph took them back and put them in his belt. "Yeah, thanks." He was still kind of angry with her for taking them in the first place.

Jean closed the suit case and handed it back to Leo. "There's your suit case."

Leo took it back from her and put it on the other chair. "Thanks, Jean. Uh, why did you take these things in the first place? And why did you leave?"

"I left because I knew you guys were going to be mad at me when you found out that I stole your things." Jean explained.

"Then why did you steal our things?" Donnie asked.

Jean shrugged. "I needed them."

"You needed my comic books? Couldn't you steal them from a store or something?" Mikey asked.

Master Splinter, Donnie, Leo, and Raph glared at him. They didn't want him to encourage her.

Jean shrugged again. "They were just there."

"Why did you need my sais?" Raph squatted down to her level.

"Um, to pick a lock." She lied.

"What lock? Were you stealing from some other place?" Raph continued with the question.

Jean didn't want to talk about it. This was going the exact same way it did the first time she wandered into the lair. "Why do you guys ask so many questions at once?" She asked all five of them.

"Like we said the last time," Leo began.

"We just want to help you. A girl like you should not be stealing and running away from home." Master Splinted finished explaining.

"If you want to help me," Jean suggested. "Then why don't you guys ask me what I'm doing back down here in the sewers sitting in your lair?"

Donnie glanced a confused expression to Mikey and then turned back to Jean. "Okay...why are you back down in the sewers sitting in our lair?"

"I need help," Jean began. "I didn't know where else to go and all you guys keep saying is how much you want to help me, so here's your chance."

Raph folded his arms across his chest. "For some reason, I'm not liking the sound of this."

"When you said you wanted to help me..." Jean glared at him for his comment. "And by what you just said now. Was that all a lie?"

Master Splinter shook his head. "No, Jean. We were not lying to you. That is just Raph talking. What is it?"

Raph rolled his eyes. He was happy he had gotten his sais back finally, but that didn't mean he was automatically going to trust her again.

"I need a place to stay." Jean got to the point. She didn't really want to explain why for certain reasons of her own.

Leo and everyone else was surprised by her request. "You need a place to stay?" Leo asked. "Why don't you just go back home?" He wanted to try to see if that would work, having a suspicion that it wouldn't work.

Jean shook her head. "I can't go home. I can't stay where I've been staying since I left home--"

"Where was the place that you stayed at?" Mikey asked out of curiosity.

"A couple of alley ways down from the bank." Jean replied.

Mikey nodded. "Oh, okay. Because we were looking--"

Donnie elbowed him in the side.

"Oof!" Mikey held his side. "What was that for?"

Raph shook his head. "Never mind, Mikey," He looked back over to Jean. "Why can't you stay in the alley way?"

"You want her to stay in the alley way? I'd rather have her stay here." Donnie said.

Raph sighed. "I was just asking."

Master Splinter stood up. "Boys! Let Jean explain what is going on. Then we will decide where she stays."

All the turtles closed their mouths and nodded. "Yes, Master Splinter."

Jean looked down at the floor. She really didn't want to talk about it. "My sister died."

"You mean the one you live with now?" Leo asked.

Jean nodded. "She got a high fever. Her boyfriend rushed her to the hospital, but she didn't make it."

Donnie leaned over to Mikey. "This kid has the worst luck in the world." He whispered.

"I don't want to stay with my sister's boyfriend and I can't go live with my other sister because she's all the way in another state. Besides, she lives in a dorm room at her college with two other girls. There wouldn't be any room for me." She explained.

"So you decided that we would let you stay?" Raph asked.

Jean nodded. "Please?"

Raph, Leo, Donnie, and Mikey all turned to each other and shrugged. They didn't really know what to say in the matter. The four of them turned to Master Splinter to see what he had to say about it.

Master Splinter sighed. "Jean, does your sister's boyfriend think that you are staying with someone else?"

Jean nodded. "He thinks that I'm staying with a friend from school."

"How does she know that her sister died?" Raph whispered to Leo.

"Because it's her sister," Leo replied, wondering why Raph was asking such a silly question. "I think I would know if you died."

Raph rolled his eyes. "I mean, how was she talking to her sister's boyfriend and everything?"

Leo became more puzzled. "What are you talking about?"

"I thought she ran away?" Raph finally said.

Leo paused. That was true.

Master Splinter smiled at Jean. "All right. You may stay here."

Jean smiled back and stood up. "Thank--"

"On one condition." Master Splinter interrupted her.

Jean's smile faded. "What?"

"You must quit all the stealing and running away and anything else that you do is bad." Master Splinter said.

"Or illegal." Mikey added.

Jean raised an eyebrow at Mikey's comment, but understood. "All right. I know it'll be hard, but I'll try."

* * *

Ann: So, now she's staying with the turtles and it seems as though Raph and Leo may have noticed a little bit of a lie. ;) Read on to see what happens. Thanks for reading and please review on your way out!


	13. Chapter 13

Ann: Thanks to Wild Turtle, PuldohFAN!, turtlegirl, xS.E.Raglandx, and anniewanny2 for reviewing. It means a lot to me.

Chapter Thirteen

The first night Jean had stayed with the turtles; she made a trip to the bank around midnight because they told her to. They wanted her to give back any money that she had stolen. Luckily, she didn't spend all of the money.

After that night, however, Jean was done with the stealing. She promised Master Splinter and the turtles that she would try her best to stop stealing and running away. After she gave back the money, she had stopped stealing altogether. She did run away, however, every once in a while. But that was only to go blow off some steam like Raph usually does. She always came back. Well, sometimes the turtles had to go out and find her, but most of the time; Jean would come back on her own.

Jean is very much like Raph is many ways. She can have a temper sometimes, and she always leaves the lair to blow off steam like he does. She even has her own pair of sai blades like Raph does. Since she started living with the turtles, they decided to train her. Seeing how much she liked the sai blades, they gave her her own pair of twin sai blades.

She was a fast learner. She had been living with the turtles for three months now and she all ready knew a lot. No, she still wasn't able to beat either one of the turtles, but she kept trying to.

It was a Saturday morning, three months later. Everyone was sleeping in except Mikey. Normally, he would sleep in on a Saturday, but he had a hard time sleeping last night so he ended up waking up early. He plopped himself down on the couch and turned on the TV. Leo was the last one to watch TV last night, so naturally, the news was on. Mikey made a disgusting face at it because he didn't really enjoy watching the news all that much. Just when he was about to change the channel, however...

_"And the search for Jean Reed is still going on," _The lady on the news said. A picture of Jean appeared next to her and head and Mikey's jaw dropped. _"The search has been going on for a little over three months now. Jean, if you're out there, your mother and sisters are looking for you."_

As soon as the lady began to talk about something else and Mikey just paused and stared at the TV, wide-eyed. What had just happened? Mikey raised his arm and hit the power button on the remote, shutting the TV off. "LEO!!" He shouted as he jumped over to the couch and up to his brother's room.

Leo's eyes shot open as soon as he heard someone calling his name. It sounded as though Mikey were in trouble.

Mikey was racing up the stairs. "RAPH! DONNIE! MASTER SPLINTER! SOMEONE!"

"Mikey!" Raph snapped as he emerged from his bedroom and closed the door behind him. "Quiet down! You're going to wake up Jean! What is it?"

Leo and Donnie both came out of their rooms next and stood next to Raph.

"This better be good, Mikey." Donnie folded his arms across his chest. He didn't like being woken up early on a Saturday morning. None of them did.

Mikey began to stammer and soon wasn't able to talk as he pointed down into the living at the TV.

Leo rolled his eyes. "Mikey, just spit it out. We can't understand you like this."

"Jean was on the news!" Mikey burst out.

"Jean's in her room sleeping," Raph replied. "I'm going back to bed." He turned around and opened his bedroom door again and was about to leave when Mikey grabbed his arm.

"No! She was on the Missing Persons Report!" Mikey said. "The news lady was talking about her and saying how they have been searching for her for a little over three months now and a picture of Jean popped up next to the lady's head!"

The other three didn't know what else to say.

"But her family's dead. Who could possibly be looking for her?" Donnie asked.

Mikey opened his mouth to reply, but Leo interrupted him.

"Her sister's boyfriend?" He guessed.

"He knew she was staying with a friend, though." Raph corrected.

Leo shook his head. "She could have been lying."

"She was lying!" Mikey tried to get a word in between his brothers' conversation.

"How do you know?" Donnie asked.

"What is going on out here?" Master Splinter came out of his room.

"Jean lied to us." Leo explained.

"Mikey said she was on the Missing Persons Report on the news." Raph added.

Master Splinter looked at Mikey concerned. "Michelangelo, is this true?"

"Every word." Mikey nodded.

"Then elaborate." Donnie pushed him to go on.

"The news lady said that the search for Jean Reed, that's her last name by the way," He interrupted himself and then continued. "Has been going on for a little over three months now. Then she said that if Jean was watching that, her mother and sisters are looking for her."

"But her mother and sisters are dead." Leo stated.

"Except one." Donnie added.

Mikey shook his head. "Apparently not." He shrugged.

Master Splinter sighed. "What are we going to do?"

"Master Splinter, when you let her stay here," Raph began. "You should have made her promise to stop stealing, stop running away, _and_ stop lying."

"She probably still would not have told us the truth about her family." Master Splinter replied.

"Otherwise, we'd probably send her back to her family." Donnie said.

Master Splinter nodded. "That is correct."

Raph leaned against the door. "Well, now what do we do with her?"

Leo scratched the back of his head. "I don't know. I can't believe this is happening. And I can't believe it went on for three straight months and I never saw it on the news!"

"Or that we just never figured it out ourselves," Mikey responded. "If you think back on it now, Jean isn't a very good liar."

"You think that now because you know the truth." Donnie said.

Master Splinter began to walk over to Jean's room. "Well, there is nothing else we can really do. We will have to confront her about it. We must know the truth if she is going to stay here."

"But her family's looking for her. How can she stay here?" Donnie asked.

"She will not," Master Splinter was about to open her bedroom door. "But she will think that she is going to still be staying here. All she has to do is tell us the truth." He knocked on Jean's door and then opened it slightly. "Jean?" He said. "May we come in?"

Jean rolled over on her bed and looked over at the door. "Uh, sure?" She replied, confused. She didn't understand why all five of them were coming into her bedroom this early on a Saturday morning. _Great! Now what did I do?_

"Jean, we have to ask you a question." Master Splinter sat down on the foot of her bed.

Jean sat up and rested her back and head against her pillows. "Okay. Go ahead."

Leo closed the bedroom door and he went to go stand with his brothers next to her bed.

"Can you tell us about your family?" Master Splinter asked.

Jean raised an eyebrow. "You want me to tell you about my family? Why are you asking this all of the sudden?"

"We just want to know the truth." Donnie replied, trying not to sound too obvious. After all, they don't even know she knows she's on the Missing Persons Report.

Jean nodded. "Oh, that's what this is about."

The turtles and Master Splinter all exchanged confused glances at each other.

"What do you mean?" Raph asked.

Jean looked up at the five of them, knowing she was caught. "You guys saw the news, haven't you?"

* * *

Ann: Haha! Cliffie! XD Don't hate me. I'll be updating the next chapter soon. Also, sorry that this chapter was a bit short. This was basically setting up for the next chapter. Anyway, thanks for reading and please review!


	14. Chapter 14

Ann: Thanks to PuldohFAN! for reviewing.

Chapter Fourteen

There was an awkward silence in the room. Jean figured that the turtles and Master Splinter were angry with her. Although, she didn't blame them. She would be angry at her too if she were them. She didn't anything further. She didn't want anyone to start to yell if they were that angry. Especially Raph.

Jean bit her bottom lip and seemed to sink down on her bed a little. She didn't think that she was going to get caught. They haven't seen the Missing Persons Report for so long she thought that she had gotten away with it.

"Jean,"

Jean turned her head around. It was Raph who was talking to her. _Oh, God. Here come the screams. _She braced herself.

"We want the truth." He ordered.

"You mean right now?" Jean tried to stall.

"Right now." Raph looked her in the eyes very firmly.

Jean sighed. She wasn't going to get out of this. "Okay, okay, I'll tell you," She sat up. "My mother's alive and I have four older sisters. One of them did actually die in a car accident when I was five years old and the other is in another state away at college. My other two sisters, however, are still alive and well. And I am actually a twin, but she died from birth. So I didn't completely lie." She tried to give herself brownie points.

"What about your father?" Mikey wondered.

Jean nodded. "Yeah, I didn't lie about that either. He actually did mysteriously disappear."

"How does somebody just disappear like that?" Donnie turned to Leo.

Leo, not knowing what else to respond, shrugged.

"Something's not right." Donnie whispered to himself. Either Jean still wasn't telling the truth or something is going on with her family. _Maybe that's why she ran away from her family._

"Is there anything else because I'm kind of hungry," Jean changed the subject. "Who wants breakfast?"

"We're not getting anywhere with this." Leo muttered.

"Jean," Master Splinter stopped her from getting out of her bed. "If your mother and two of your sisters are still alive, then why did you run away from home? And why did you lie to us about this?"

Jean leaned back again. She defiantly wasn't going to be able to get out of this. "I lied because I needed a reason as to why I ran away from home and I also needed a reason as to why I steal."

"Why do you steal?" Leo asked.

Jean gave him a look like it was an obvious answer. "Because I ran away from home. I'm thirteen years old, I don't have any money. I don't even have actual shelter. And because of that and my age, I wasn't able to get a job so I stole money from the bank so I could buy food from the grocery store and other places."

"Why didn't you just steal from the grocery store? It would have saved so much more time." Mikey suggested.

Raph glared at him. "Don't give her any ideas!" He hit Mikey over the head, with a roll of his eyes.

Mikey made a painful face and rubbed the back of his head.

Jean shrugged. "You know, I actually thought of that, but--"

"Jean," Master Splinter interrupted her. He didn't really want to know the reason as to why she didn't steal from the grocery store. She still hadn't answered his other question. "You never answered my question." He was about to continue, when Jean interrupted him.

"What was your question?" She was trying to give herself more time to come up with a good lie that they'd believe.

"Why did you run away from home?" He repeated himself.

Jean fiddled with her fingers. "Well, uh..."

"Tell us the truth." Raph egged on.

Jean glanced back up and him and then down back at her fingers. "You don't want any more lies?"

"No." Donnie replied.

"We want the truth." Leo added.

"Then I can't tell you." Jean looked up at the five of them and put her hands down.

"Why not?" Mikey asked.

Jean shrugged. "You guys said no more lies."

"Because we want the truth." Master Splinter responded.

"I can't tell you the truth." Jean looked him in the eye, which meant that she wasn't lying about that. She really wasn't going to tell them the truth.

"Why can't you tell us?" Raph asked, softening his gaze. For once, he knew yelling at her wasn't going to do any good.

Jean looked at Raph. "Because I can't."

"Because you can't," Donnie wondered. "Or because you don't want to?"

"Because I don't know." Jean replied.

There was silence in the room. Jean stared back and forth between the brothers and Master Splinter and the boys and Master Splinter stared back at her. Except Mikey. He was looking back and forth between everybody. They were all confused, only Mikey was the one who actually asked.

"What's that supposed to mean?" He steadied his gaze on Jean.

Jean crawled out of her bed and left her room. "I don't want to talk about it."

* * *

"Come on, Jean! Keep your guard up!" Raph grabbed her arm and tossed her to the side.

Jean caught her balance and stood in the same spot, gripping her own sai blades as tightly as she could. "It's not my fault."

"Not your fault?" Raph asked, becoming a little confused. "You're not focusing."

"I'm not focusing because you're yelling." Jean remarked.

"I'm yelling because you're not listening to me." Raph shot back.

Jean glared at him. "I'm not listening to you because--" She closed her eyes and calmed herself down before she said anything that she was going to regret. "Never mind. This isn't working."

"What do you mean this isn't working?" Raph softened his almost-glare gaze.

"Can we be done for today?" She asked.

Raph put his sais back into his belt. "Uh, sure. Why do you want to stop, though?"

Jean shook her head as she walked up the stairs to her room. "I just want to stop for today."

Leo came over and stood next to Raph, watching her go up the stairs.

"Um, okay." Raph replied as she disappeared into her bedroom, the door closing behind her.

"What's wrong with her?" Leo asked.

Raph shrugged. "I don't know. She's been a little off today."

Leo nodded. "I could tell. She probably knows that something's coming."

"What's coming?" Raph wondered.

"She knows that we know that her mother and sisters are alive. She knows that we know that her family is looking for her and that they love her. She can probably guess that Master Splinter is going to make her go back home." Leo explained.

Raph sighed and looked back up at her bedroom door. There was nothing much he could do. He knew as much as Master Splinter, his brothers, and even Jean knew that there was nothing they could do. Jean had to go home.

* * *

Jean entered the kitchen and sat down in her usual seat around the table. Mikey, Leo, Raph, and Donnie were all ready sitting down and waiting for their dinner. Jean didn't make eye contact with any of them.

Master Splinter placed dinner in the middle of the table. "Eat up." He said and he walked back over to the counter.

Jean or Mikey were usually the first ones to start digging in and fight over who got it first. But this time, Mikey grabbed the carving knife and Jean didn't move a muscle.

Mikey glanced at his brothers. He felt weird, even though he usually got to it first. "Uh, Jean?" He asked.

Jean looked up at him. "Huh?"

"Do you want it first?" He asked.

Jean shook his head and then looked back down at her lap. "No thanks. You go ahead."

Raph, Leo, and Donnie exchanged worried expressions with Mikey and each other.

Master Splinter didn't want to make anyone's mood worse, but he had to say something before they all went to bed. "Uh, Jean?" He hesitated.

"What?" Jean looked up at him.

"I am sorry, but..." He paused and looked at his sons. They knew exactly what he was going to say. "I know you love staying here and we enjoy you staying here as well. It is just that with you mother and sisters looking for you..."

"I have to go back home, right?" Jean finished.

Master Splinter paused, but then finally nodded. "First thing in the morning. We cannot keep your family waiting any longer."

"I knew it." Jean stood up and was about to walk out of the kitchen.

"What about dinner?" Leo knew she was upset, but she had to eat.

She stopped and looked at him. "No thanks. I'm not hungry." She stated and left.

"I am sorry," Master Splinter sighed at his sons after Jean had left. "But she must go home."

* * *

Ann: So, Jean lied, as usual, and Master Splinter is making her go back home. She's not too happy. Then again, no one is if you think about it. Thanks for reading and please review!


	15. Chapter 15

Ann: Thanks to PuldohFAN! and turtlegirl for reviewing. :)

Chapter Fifteen

The clock had struck midnight and Jean rolled over in her bed and lay on her back. She couldn't sleep. She was too busy thinking about what was going to happen the next morning. She knew that Master Splinter was going to make her go back home no matter what and she also knew that she had promised them that she would go back home.

Jean sighed and crawled out of her bed. She hated breaking her promise to the turtles. Especially since she hadn't run away in a very long time and she hadn't stolen anything in a while, either. She had to leave, however. She had to leave now. The turtles had done so much for her.

A tear rolled down Jean's cheek. She couldn't believe that she was actually doing this. She took out her backpack from underneath her bed and began to pack up her things. Promise or no promise, she couldn't go back home. And if the turtles were going to make her go back home, then she couldn't stay at the lair either. She was going to have to find another place to go. She couldn't go back to her alley. She told the turtles where it was. They would know where to find her.

As Jean packed, she tried to figure out where else she could go. Someone where no one would be able to find her. You see, that's why she ran away from home all this time. Someone was after her. She didn't know who, but she wanted to keep her family safe. When she found the turtles and they kept saying how they wanted to help her she figured she would be safe there.

The more things Jean packed, the more upset she felt about leaving the turtles without saying goodbye. She did this once to them all ready, but that was before she actually got to know them. This was different. She actually didn't want to leave. Although, this was the way it had to be. She hoped that in the morning they would think that she went back home early. They wouldn't know why she left in the middle of the night, but she hoped that they wouldn't be coming looking for her. That would be pointless. They probably wouldn't find her. And if they did...she wouldn't know what to do then.

Jean grabbed her clothing out of her closet and began taking them off the hangers to fold them on her bed so she could finish her packing. _If I miss them, I can come visit them. I know where they live._ Jean told herself, and then shook her head. _Then they would defiantly be wondering where I was all that time and why I randomly got up in the middle of the night and left without saying goodbye._ Jean didn't want to leave without saying goodbye; it would cause too much grief. Although, there would have been tears if she did say goodbye to them as well.

_Going back home is too much grief..._ Jean sighed. _There's no right way to go. I'm just going to have to start all over again from scratch. Like I did when I first left Mom and Melody and Tabitha. _She remembered leaving her sisters and mother. She never said goodbye to them, either.

_(Flashback)_

_"Have you heard that Morgan was asked out today?" Jean's friend, Kylie, asked as the two of them were walking home from school together._

_Jean seemed to perk up with a big smile. "Really? By who?"_

_Kylie shrugged. "I don't know. She doesn't even know."_

_Jean raised an eyebrow. "How can she get asked out and not know who it's from?"_

_"She got a note in her locker." Kylie explained._

_"Well," Jean was still confused. "How can she say yes or no to the guy if she doesn't know who he is?"_

_Kylie didn't respond for a moment. "...I don't know."_

_Jean rolled her eyes. "I hate people. They never think."_

_Kylie shrugged. "Whatever. I'm just glad it wasn't me. I mean, the note could have been from any guy in the school."_

_Jean shivered. "I know what you mean. Can you imagine from getting one of those things from Tim Harris?"_

_Kylie made a disgusting face. "I pity Morgan if that note was from him."_

_"I'll pity Morgan if the note was a joke." Jean thought of another theory._

_Kylie nodded. "That's right. Morgan would be heartbroken," Then she shrugged. "Wait a minute, how can she be heartbroken? She doesn't know who it was from. If she thought if it was from Jake, the quarterback, then yes, she will be heartbroken because, like, every girl in eighth grade wants to date him."_

_"Yeah," Jean pointed to the yellow house they were passing. It was Kylie's house. "I'll never get one of those notes, though. Well, maybe I will, but it will probably be a joke."_

_"Don't think that way," Kylie reassured her. "Your time will come."_

_"That's easy for you to say," Jean replied dryly. "You all ready have a boyfriend."_

_Kylie sighed at her friend. She was always complaining about wanting a boyfriend. "Bye, Jean." She waved as she walked up the front steps to her house._

_Jean gave her friend a quick wave and began to walk on. Her house was on the next street. It was a five minute walk._

_Jean swayed from side to side as she walked to her house. The last five minutes of the walk were always the most boring because there was never anybody to talk to. Then she heard someone walking behind her and she turned around to see who it was. It might have been one of her neighbors jogging or something. But no. It was a lady jogging, but Jean didn't know who she was._

_She watched the lady jog by disappear around the corner. Jean sighed loudly trying to break the silence between herself and everything else around her. As she neared a tree, Jean noticed someone leaning against it. As the two of them made eye contact, Jean gave a friendly smile, trying to be nice, but she kept on walking._

_"Hi." He said._

_Jean, even though she had all ready passed him, quickly turned her head around to say hi. She continued to walk, however. "H--" She turned around and realized he had no face. "--i." She finished and then quickly turned back around again and kept on walking. What was he so dressed up for? His entire body was covered in a black suit. Including his face._

_"Jean, what's the hurry?" He spoke up again._

_Jean stopped in her tracks and turned around to face him. "Okay, the whole black-suit-covering-face thing freaked me enough. Now that you know my name is pushing it just a little. What do you want?"_

_Whoever this guy was, pushed himself off of the tree and took a step closer to Jean. "I want to talk to you about joining a...club."_

_"You sound really sure of yourself," Jean crossed her arms over her chest. "Why me and why do you want me? I still don't know how you know me!" Jean threw her arms up into the air at the last statement._

_"Forget how I know you..." He insisted._

_Jean rolled her eyes, interrupting him. "And why should I forget about it? Are you stalking me or something?"_

_The dark man sighed. "No, I am not stalking you, Jean. If I told you the truth, then...you wouldn't believe me anyway."_

_"Again, you seem so sure of yourself." Jean stated sarcastically again._

_"Jean," The dark man was beginning to get impatient. "Let me explain this to you. We could really use you in our club." He used the word club and Jean would clearly tell that that was not what it was._

_"Well, I don't know who 'we' are," Jean glared at him. "But if you've survived this long without me in your 'club' I think you can survive without me." Not waiting for a response or giving him a chance to do anything else, Jean ran away as fast as she could._

_Once she made it to her house, she ran in and locked the door. She ran up to her bedroom and peeked out the window through the blinds. _Good. He didn't follow me._ She sighed and lay down on her bed. _Who was that guy?

_(End of flashback)_

Jean finished packing up the clothes that she had. She zippered up the big pocket on her backpack and unzipped the next biggest pocket and she began to gather things in her bedroom that she was going to need while she was gone or things that were hers and she wanted to keep. _I can't believe I'm doing this. My whole life is down the drain now. I at least could have been someone with these guys, but no. That stupid news report._

More tears began to pour out of Jean's eyes as she began to cry harder. She hated seeing that news report. It reminded her of her mother and sisters. She knew that they love her and she loves them as well. Which was exactly why she wasn't able to go back to her house. She couldn't go back home. The last time she ran into that dark man he said that he was going to make her join the "club" or whatever it was. He said he was going to make her join, no matter what it took.

Jean didn't know what that meant, so she packed up her things and she left. She couldn't think of anything else she was able to do to keep her family safe. At least she knew that they were safe if they were still looking for her.

Jean picked up a stuffed animal giraffe off of her bed and smiled at it.

_"Ta-da!" Mikey presented the giraffe to Jean._

_Jean smiled and took it out of his hands. "Thank you, Mikey! But...what's it for?" She asked since he just randomly bought her a giraffe._

_"It's been a whole week and you haven't run away or stolen anything!" Mikey was proud of her. "Every week, if you continue not to steal and run away, I'll buy you another giraffe."_

Jean grabbed all of the other giraffes that she had earned and put them into her backpack. _I'm sure going to miss that. _She became teary-eyed again.

Next, Jean grabbed her pair of twin sai blades and put them into her backpack.

_"Jean?" Raph knocked on her bedroom door as he opened it._

_Jean closed her book. "Yeah, Raph? Come on in."_

_He closed the door behind him and sat down on the side of her bed. "I was thinking...you know how you like my sai blades and all? Well, I was wondering if you would like to start training. I could teach you. Well, Leo, Donnie, Mikey, and Master Splinter could help, but..."_

_Jean interrupted him, becoming excited. "I get to use your sais?" She was shocked because she didn't think he would ever do that._

_Raph raised an eyebrow. "Um, no. Not ever. I only use my sais," He pulled out a new pair of twin sai blades from behind his back. "That's why I got you these ones."_

_Jean's face lit up and wrapped her arms around Raph's neck in a hug. She knew he hated hugs, but she didn't care. "Oh, Raph, thank you! Thank you so much! I love them!"_

Jean walked over to her dresser and picked up a book. "How To Concentrate on Meditating."

_"GOT'CHA!" Jean leaped into the air and reached for Mikey's arm._

_"Nope!" Mikey teased. "You missed."_

_Jean made a hard thud on the floor as she fell and began to laugh. "This isn't as easy as it looks." She said as the two were playing Mikey's version of the game Tag._

_Master Splinter emerged from his room. "Jean, Michelangelo, please. I am trying to mediate."_

_"Sorry, Master Splinter." Jean and Mikey said in unison._

_Master Splinter shook his head as he walked back into his room with a little smile on his face. "Kids..."_

Jean giggled as she put the book in her backpack. "I must have gotten on his nerves so much." She whispered to herself. She squatted down and peeked under her bed. She pulled out a little pink metal tool box. It had her name on it. She placed it on her bed next to her backpack. It wasn't going to fit in her backpack. Jean was going to have to carry it separately in her arms.

_"Donnie, what'cha doin'?" Jean walked into Donnie lab._

_Donnie jumped and sighed. "Jean, didn't I tell you knock first before you came in here? I'm dealing with dangerous chemicals in here. What if you scared me so much I spilled them?"_

_Jean shrugged. "Sorry..."_

_"Mikey does this to me all the time." Donnie muttered so Jean couldn't hear him._

_"...Mikey told me not to bother to knock. He told me to just come right in." Jean finished her apology._

_Donnie nodded. "I can believe that. I'll talk to him later."_

_"So what are you doing?" Jean repeated._

_"I'm trying to create--" Donnie looked Jean in the eyes and stopped him. He couldn't explain this to her. She was thirteen years old and if Mikey or any of his brothers didn't understand a word he said, neither would she. "Do you want to help me?" Donnie interrupted himself._

_Jean became excited. She never helped Donnie in his lab before. She wasn't sure if anyone has helped him in his lab before. Jean pulled up a chair and sat down. "Of course! I would love to help!"_

Jean finally got the last thing she was going to pack. She picked up a case of CDs that was lying on top of her bookshelf. Only, the CD case wasn't filled with CDs. It was filled with DVDs. They were all movies that Leo burned onto DVDs for Jean.

_"Leo?" Jean walked into the living room._

_"Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" Leo was startled and turned around to face her._

_Jean shrugged, ignoring him. She didn't want to go to bed. "What are you watching?"_

_"Rush Hour." Leo replied._

_"Can I watch it with you?" Jean sat down on the couch._

_"Aren't you supposed to be in bed?" Leo asked again._

_Jean shrugged and grabbed some popcorn out of the bowl Leo was holding. "I don't want to go to bed."_

_"But it's 10:30." Leo protested._

_"I'll go to bed when the movie's over." Jean answered._

_Leo stared at Jean, but didn't say anything else. He didn't know what else to say or how to get her to go back to bed, so he let her stay up and watch the rest of the movie with him._

Jean stuffed the DVDs into her backpack hoping that they would fit. She zipped up her backpack, threw it onto her back, picked up her tool box, and headed out the door. Another tear rolled down her cheek. "Goodbye, guys. Thank you." She whispered and left the lair for good.

* * *

Ann: Aw...so Jean has left the building. Thanks for reading and please review!


	16. Chapter 16

Ann: Thanks to PuldohFAN!, dEaTh/tmnt, anniewanny2, and xS.E.Raglandx for reviewing.

Chapter Sixteen

Mikey rolled over on his bed the next morning, blinking his eyes open to look at the clock. It was 7:30 in the morning. He groaned. It was about time he'd get up. Of course, Jean would probably be leaving after breakfast.

Mikey crawled out of his bed yawning. He didn't want Jean to leave. He knew she had to go back home to her family, but he wished Master Splinter would at least let her stay until dinner. You know, so they could have one more day together.

He left his bedroom and closed the door behind him at the same time Donnie came out of his bedroom.

"Hey." Mikey yawned again.

"Hi," Donnie replied. "Did you sleep well?"

Mikey shrugged. "I don't even remembering waking up in the middle of the night, but I feel as though I didn't get a good night's sleep."

Donnie nodded. "Me too."

"When's Jean leaving?" Mikey didn't want to bring it up, but he wanted to know how much longer they had together.

"I'm not sure," Donnie answered. "Master Splinter said first thing in the morning, but I'm going to guess that she's going to eat breakfast with us."

"Good morning, guys." Leo came out of his room.

"Hi." Mikey and Donnie replied in unison.

"What are you guys doing sitting in the hallway?" Leo asked.

Donnie shrugged. "We both just woke up."

Mikey nodded agreement.

Raph emerged from his bedroom. "When is she leaving?" He asked.

"Probably after breakfast." Leo guessed.

"Yeah, after breakfast." Donnie confirmed to Mikey.

Raph sighed. "Fine."

"Is she awake yet?" Mikey wondered.

Leo shook his head. "I don't think so."

"I think Master Splinter is still asleep." Donnie added.

"Let's make breakfast and then we can wake Jean up." Raph suggested.

"Can we make a big breakfast?" Donnie asked.

"Yeah. A breakfast that will take us a long time to eat." Mikey suggested.

Leo couldn't help but smile. He was just as upset about Jean leaving as his brothers were. "We'll make pancakes or something."

* * *

"Boys?" Master Splinter walked into the kitchen.

"Yes?" Leo turned away from the stove.

"There is something that I must tell you." Master Splinter walked a little closer to them.

"What is it, Master Splinter?" Donnie asked.

"I went into Jean's room to go wake her up a couple of minutes ago." Master Splinter began.

"Aw, Master Splinter!" Mikey complained.

"What is it?" Master Splinter wondered.

"We were going to go wake her up as soon as we finished making breakfast." Raph explained.

"Oh," Master Splinter smiled at the thought. "I am sorry. I did not know."

"Anyway, what was it that you were going to say?" Leo asked.

"I went into Jean's room to wake her up a couple of minutes ago," Master Splinter began again. "And when I went in there, Jean was not."

"Jean wasn't in her room?" Raph repeated.

Master Splinter nodded. "I think she left. I heard her leave her room in the middle of the night."

"Maybe she woke up and had to go to the bathroom." Mikey thought.

Master Splinter shook his head. "I do not think so, Michelangelo. I think Jean left last night."

"But," Donnie looked at his brothers and then back at Master Splinter. "Why would she leave without saying goodbye?"

Mikey frowned. "I was really hoping to...I don't know." He wasn't sure. Her leaving them first thing this morning was so last minute, they didn't get to do anything. And now that she ended up leaving in the middle of the night, they didn't know what to think anymore.

"I am sorry, my sons," Master Splinter felt bad. "But maybe she thought that it was best if she left in the middle of the night."

"Do you think we'll ever see her again?" Mikey asked.

"I hope." Donnie replied.

"I think maybe we will." Leo tried to sound confident.

"When?" Raph asked.

Leo bowed his head. "I have no idea."

* * *

Leo sat down on the couch in the living room after breakfast. It was his brothers' turn to wash, dry, and put away the dishes today. He turned on the TV and immediately turned on the news.

_"In other news..." The news lady changed the subject. "The Missing Persons Report. Korina Reed and her daughters, Melody and Tabitha Reed are still on the lookout for their sister and daughter, Jean Reed..."  
_

Leo's eyes grew wide. "...What?!"

"What what?" Raph walked into the living room.

"Get the others! Quick!" Leo didn't take his eyes off of the TV screen.

"They're standing right next to me." Raph replied.

"Then come here!" Leo waved them over. "Look at this."

Raph, Mikey, and Donnie all walked over to the couch and sat down next to Leo.

"What is this?" Mikey asked.

"The Missing Persons Report," Leo replied. "Now be quiet."

"Why are you watching this?" Donnie wondered.

"Because! Just watch," Leo shut them up.

_"Jean Reed, your mother and your sisters are still looking for you. Justin--"_

Leo clicked off the TV as the news lady continued onto other missing people.

"Why is she still on the list?" Raph asked, shocked.

Leo shrugged. "I have no idea."

"I thought she went home." Mikey muttered.

"So did we." Donnie replied.

Leo got up off of the couch. "Where's Master Splinter?"

"Meditating," Raph answered. "Where else?"

"Okay, I'll leave him a note." Leo replied.

"Why?" Donnie asked.

"Where are we going?" Mikey added.

"We're going to go find Jean." Leo confirmed.

"Where?" Raph asked.

"How?" Donnie added.

"Why?" Mikey was confused.

"We'll go on the bank rooftop, that's where. We'll catch her when she tries to steal money, that's how because she's on her own now with no money. And we have to get her back to her family, that's why!" Leo answered all three questions.

"Whatever happened to because we want to keep her safe, that's why?" Mikey asked.

"That too!" Leo was panicking. "Let's go!"

* * *

Ann: Yeah, another short chapter. Sorry about that. I thought this one was going to be longer, but I guess not. The next one will probably be longer. Thanks for reading and please review!


	17. Chapter 17

Ann: Thanks to Eridani23, PinkPrincessNikki, PuldohFAN!, dEaTh/tmnt, and xS.E.Raglandx for reviewing.

Chapter Seventeen

"She's not coming." Raph stated for the millionth time.

"She has to." Leo responded.

"We've been sitting on this rooftop for two hours," Raph threw his head back. "She's not coming."

Donnie was pacing on the bank rooftop. "I don't understand where she could have gone. I mean, we should have seen this one coming, but we checked in the place that she said she used to stay at. Where could she be?"

"I just don't understand why she left in the middle of the night." Mikey said.

"That's obvious," Donnie was about to reply.

"She probably knew that we were going to walk her back to her house." Raph explained.

"And obviously she didn't want to go back home." Leo added.

"What is it with her and her home?" Mikey threw his arms up into the air. "I would love to go back home right now!"

"I don't know..." Leo muttered.

"She's been lying to us since the beginning," Raph stated. "Donnie was right. We should have seen this coming."

"We wouldn't have been able to stop her, anyway," Donnie corrected. "Even if we were expecting her to go somewhere else, she left in the middle of the night."

"We could have stayed up all night and followed her out to see where she went." Mikey suggested.

Leo sighed. "Of course we think of this now."

"We're going to have to look around New York." Donnie stated.

"Why? She's on her own now. She's bound to steal from the bank. We had her give back everything that she stole, remember? She hasn't stolen money since. The kid's probably broke." Raph replied.

"Yeah, only you said it yourself, Raph. We've been up here for over two hours. She's not coming. Not tonight, anyway." Donnie explained.

Mikey looked down into the streets. "Well, then what do we do? Do you want to search around for her right now?"

"She's probably sleeping." Leo replied.

"So? We'll know where she is." Raph stood up.

"What if she moves?" Donnie thought.

"Why do you always have to find loopholes to everything?" Raph groaned.

Leo opened his mouth to say something, but then his shell cell began to ring. "Hello?" Leo knew it was Master Splinter.

"Leonardo, where are you?" Master Splinter wondered, concerned.

"Donnie, Mikey, Raph, and I are waiting for Jean to steal some money at the bank from the bank rooftop." Leo replied.

"That doesn't sound suspicious." Raph rolled his eyes.

"Well, what time are you and your brothers coming home? You have been gone an awfully long time." Master Splinter stated.

"We know. Jean hasn't shown up yet," Leo said. "There's no sign of her."

"It is four o'clock in the morning, Leonardo. I do not think that she will be coming tonight." Master Splinter thought.

Leo sighed. "I guess you're right. But we just don't know where she could be."

"Well you and your brothers can look for her later. You should not have been out this late," Master Splinter scolded. "You can look for her later on today after you get some sleep and rest."

"Yes, Master Splinter." Leo hung up his shell cell and turned around to his brothers.

"What did Master Splinter say?" Mikey asked.

"He wants us to go home." Leo answered.

"But we haven't found Jean yet." Donnie argued.

Leo shrugged. "Master Splinter wants us to come home now. He said that she probably isn't going to come tonight anyway. He wants us to go home and get some sleep and rest. He also said that after we get some rest, we'll be able to go back out again and look for her."

Raph stood up. "All right, fine. We'll go back home. But as soon as we're all ready to go back out again, we're splitting up and searching for her. Waiting for her to do something that she might not even do isn't going to get us anywhere."

* * *

"There you boys are," Master Splinter put his cup of tea down when his sons walked through the lair. "I called you a half hour ago. I thought something might have happened. What took you so long?"

"Sorry, Master Splinter." Donnie yawned.

"We kind of suddenly became tired on the way back." Raph explained.

Master Splinter shook his head. "This is exactly why I did not want you boys to be out this late."

"Sorry, Master Splinter," Leo said. "We're going up to bed right now."

Mikey staggered past him. "Goodnight..."

"Goodnight, my sons." Master Splinter smiled as he watched them all stumble up the stairs. He was going to finish his cup of tea and then he was going to go back to bed.

* * *

Leo crawled into his bed and pulled the covers over his head. He didn't realize how exhausted his was until Master Splinter made them come home. Well, at least he wasn't going to have a hard time falling asleep.

_Jean left her bedroom and glanced down to the first floor. Leo was watching TV. She couldn't make out what he was watching, so she went down and stood behind the couch. "You're watching the news again?" She groaned._

_Leo turned around. "Yeah, I like the news. Why?"_

_Jean shrugged and sat down on the couch next to him. "I hate the news."_

_"Yes, but you're not the one watching TV." Leo replied._

_Jean reached over him and grabbed the clicker._

_"What are you doing?" Leo asked._

_"Changing the channel." Jean replied, flicking through the channels._

_Leo stared at the TV, wide-eyed. "No, no, no! What are you doing? The Missing Persons Report was about to come on!"_

_"I know," Jean replied. "I don't want to watch that."_

_Leo tried to grab the clicker away from her, but Jean moved, causing her to push a button._

"Barney is a dinosaur, from our imagination..."

_"Ah! It burns!" Jean pushed random buttons on the clicker to change the channel._

_Leo buried his face in his hands, trying not to laugh. "Then just change the channel."_

_"I am! I am!" Jean finally just clicked the TV off. She looked over at Leo. "Are you laughing at me?"_

_Leo's shoulders stopped shaking, as he held in his laughter. "No."_

_Jean grabbed Leo's hands and pulled them away from his face and he was smiling. "You are laughing at me!" She replied._

_"No, I'm not." Leo tried to make a serious face._

_"Oh, yeah?" Jean smiled. "Well, I can laugh at you too." She grabbed Leo's bowl filed with popcorn and dumped it on his head._

_"Jean!" Leo braced himself._

_"Bye!" Jean hopped over the couch, running away and at the same time, she was laughing._

_Leo hopped over the couch right after her and began to chase her through the lair. Even though it was around midnight._

Leo sighed. _I should have known that she was hiding the Missing Person's Report from me all along. I should have seen it. _He thought to himself. He was disappointed that he didn't see through Jean's lies. But thinking of everything that happened, he ended up falling asleep with a smile on his face.

* * *

_"What'cha doin'?" Jean walked into Donnie's lab._

_"Stuff." Donnie replied. He always said that to her because every time she asked, he's explain, and then she's ask again because she had no idea what he just said._

_"That sounds boring." Jean said dryly._

_"That's because you don't appreciate it." Donnie stated._

_"Appreciate what?" Jean didn't know what he meant._

_"All of this," Donnie pointed to his chemicals and tools. "You think this is boring because you don't appreciate science."_

_"I appreciate blowin' stuff up." Jean said._

_Donnie paused and then shook his head. "You hang around Mikey too much."_

_Jean sighed. "I used to hang around my dad too much."_

_"What?" Donnie became confused at her comment._

_Jean smiled as she found a bright pink chemical, ignoring Donnie. "Can I see this?"_

_Donnie soon forgot about what she had just said about her father and reached out to grab her. "Jean, don't touch--"_

BOOM!

_Donnie paused his lab was covered in pink stuff. "Oh, my..."_

_Jean slowly moved her hands down to her side, showing Donnie that she wasn't going to touch anything else. She looked over ay at Donnie and when their eyes met she gave a sheepish smile. "Heh."_

Donnie rolled over with a smile on his face. He too was going to fall asleep with a smile on his face.

* * *

Raph groaned in his sleep as he waved his arms around in the air.

_"Whoa, Jean! Slow down!" Raph dodged all of her punches._

_"No way, Raph!" Jean was having the time of her life, even if she was in the middle of training. "You told me never to let my guard down!"_

_"Yes," Raph ducked. "But I think you want to give me a chance to breath."_

_Jean stopped. "Fine," She panted. "Five seconds."_

_Raph raised an eyebrow. "Five minutes," He walked over to where they had set water bottles down and took a sip out of his. "You defiantly have improved."_

_Jean smiled. "I have you to thank for that."_

_"Yeah, but you were pretty good since the beginning," Raph complimented. "Where did you learn these things?"_

_Jean shrugged. "My father used to work out a lot."_

_Raph nodded, not really wanting to talk about her father. If what she said about him "mysteriously disappearing", he wasn't even sure if she herself was going to be comfortable talking about. "All right," He held his sais up. "Again."_

* * *

_"Oh, I'm killing you!" Mikey repeatedly pushed buttons on his controller._

_"You are not!" Jean didn't take her eyes off of the TV. "I'm winning!"_

_Mikey's smile faded. "You are winning...Shell!" He pushed the buttons his controller harder and faster._

_Jean laughed and shook her head. "Oh, you are way behind me, Man. There is no way that you're going to win now!"_

_"Shell, shell, shell!" Mikey tried to make his race car catch up to Jean's when the word "winner" is big capital letters appeared on screen and zoomed in on Jean's race car._

_Jean smiled at Mikey. "You wanna try again, Loser?"_

_Mikey's jaw dropped as he watched the TV. "You beat my high score..."_

_"I did?" Jean looked at the TV and threw her arms up in the air. "Cool!" She looked back over at Mikey. "I've never beaten anyone's high score before."_

_"Do you even have video games at your house?" Mikey asked, she didn't have any brothers, and from the way she talked about her sisters sometimes, they didn't seem to be tomboys._

_Jean nodded. "My dad and I used to race all the time."_

Mikey opened his eyes at the remembrance of her dad. "What if she went to...?" Mikey thought. "Oh, we have to find her tomorrow before she gets herself into trouble!"

* * *

Ann: All right, hopefully you all got something out of those memories. ;) Hint, hint. If you didn't, you'll find out soon enough. Thanks for reading and please review.


	18. Chapter 18

Ann: Thanks to anniewanny2, PuldohFAN!, and turtlegirl for reviewing.

Chapter Eighteen

Mikey's alarm clock rang at 6:30 in the morning. His eyes sprang open and he leaped out of his bed after slamming his fist down to shut the alarm off. "Leo! Donnie! Raph!" He called to his brothers through the walls. "Guys!" He called again, even know he knew that they probably weren't going to hear him. He grabbed his nunchucks and ran out of his bedroom.

He ran into Raph's bedroom first. "Raph! Wake up! Wake up!" He shook his brother.

Raph swatted his arm in the air to try to get Mikey to go away. He groaned and rolled over away from his brother.

"Raph!" Mikey yelled in his ear.

Raph threw the pillow over his head. "Go away..." He's muffled voice moaned.

"You leave me no choice," Mikey stuck his finger in his mouth and then stuck it in Raph's ear.

"MIKEY!" Raph jumped surprised and fell out of his bed. He slowly peeked over his bed, without bothering to stand up. He was glaring at Mikey. "I'm going to kill you."

Mikey was all ready over to the door. "Get up." He ordered.

"What time is it?" Raph asked.

"6:30!" Mikey was running down the hall into Leo's room.

Raph's jaw dropped. "I am _really_ going to kill him." He muttered to himself.

"Leo!" Mikey ran into Leo's room, but Leo wasn't there. "Leo?" He asked confused.

"What?" Leo was right behind him.

Mikey jumped and turned around. "What are you doing sneaking up on me like that?!"

Leo shrugged. He was still half asleep. "I was looking for you. I heard you shouting in your room and then I heard you yelling in Raph's room. What do you want?"

"I want you to wake up!" Mikey left and ran into Donnie's room.

"...What?" Leo asked softly.

Raph walked over to him and shrugged. "Don't ask. I have no idea, either."

"Donnie!" Mikey burst into his room.

Donnie was in his room, but wasn't in bed. "I'm up! I'm up! Don't give me a wet wily!"

Mikey raised an eyebrow. "Who said I was going to give you a wet wily?"

"Raph woke me up. He told me to get up or you were going to give me a wet wily." Donnie explained.

Mikey sighed at Raph. "Thanks."

Raph smiled. "I thought I'd save Donnie from you since I was too late to save Leo."

"What did you want us up for, Mikey?" Leo asked. He didn't even want to know about the wet willies.

"We have to go find Jean." Mikey cut to the chase.

"We know." Donnie rolled his eyes.

"No, I mean we have to find her today." Mikey turned around to Donnie.

"Why?" Leo asked. "I mean, we're going to try to find her, but if we don't find her today, we don't find her today. She's very good at hiding and running away and stuff. You know that."

Mikey turned back around again so he could look at Leo. "But don't you guys know where she's headed? She could get into big trouble!"

"Wait," Raph interrupted before anyone else could say anything. "You mean that you knew all along where Jean was and you never told us? So we waited by the bank all day the day before yesterday and ended up sleeping all day yesterday because of the day before yesterday so we wasted two days when we could have found her?"

Mikey paused. "I have no idea what you just said, but I didn't realize where Jean was going until after we got home from the bank."

"Who cares when you figured it out," Donnie said. "Where is she?"

"How do you know, though?" Leo asked.

Donnie rolled his eyes. "Who cares?"

"Isn't it obvious?" Mikey said. "Jean has gone to go look for her father."

No one responded.

"That sounds random." Raph broke the silence.

Mikey shook his head. "Not really. Think about, she always talked about her father."

"Because we would ask her a question about how she knew something or whatever, and she would say her father used to do this, or her father used to do that." Leo explained.

"Yeah, but--" Mikey began.

"And where exactly is her father?" Donnie interrupted.

Mikey turned to Donnie. "Well, I--"

"And don't you think Jean probably would have gone to go look for her father before coming down to the lair looking for us?" Raph asked.

Mikey turned back around so he could look at Raph. "I don't know!" Mikey yelled so no one else could interrupt him.

Leo shook his head. "Good theory, Mikey, but we're right back where we started."

"We could go out and look for her anyway." Mikey said.

"We are." Donnie replied.

Raph sighed and began to walk downstairs to get some breakfast. "This is going to be another long day..."

One week later...

"I can't believe this!" Raph was sticking to the shadows since he was in New York City during the middle of the day.

"You can't believe what?" Donnie asked, following closely behind his brother.

"It's been a whole week and we _still_ haven't found Jean!" Raph was getting annoyed.

Donnie shrugged. "Maybe Mikey was right."

"About what?" Raph asked.

"That Jean might have gone to go look for her father. Maybe she found him and she's safe and sound with him." Donnie guessed, hoping it was true. He didn't know where else she could be. He didn't want to think of anything that might have happened to her.

Raph stopped and turned around. "Donnie," He said. "The guy 'mysteriously disappeared' as she called it, three years ago. What are the odds of her leaving us in the middle of the night, go out to find her father, and then magically find him?"

Donnie sighed. "It was just a thought. I don't know where she could be and something could have happened to her."

Raph turned back around and continued walking. "Let's not think about that now. Let's think Jean is all right and we're going to find her soon."

Donnie nodded. "All right."

Suddenly, Donnie's shell cell began to ring. "You didn't find her, did you?" Donnie didn't want to get his hopes up, but he knew it was Leo and he didn't know why else he would be calling."

Raph stopped short and turned around to look at Donnie. He thought Leo and Mikey might have found her.

_"No, we haven't found her," Leo replied. "We haven't seen any signs of her. What about you and Raph?"_

Donnie shook his head as if Leo could see him. "Raph and I haven't found anything either."

"They didn't find her?" Raph asked.

Donnie shook his head.

Raph rolled his eyes. "How can a little girl just disappear like this?!"

Donnie hung up the phone with Leo. "Like father like daughter, I guess."

* * *

"They haven't found her yet either?" Mikey asked.

Leo put his shell cell away, shaking his head no. "Nope. She's still out there somewhere."

"Maybe it would be better if the four of us split up?" Mikey suggested.

Leo looked at his brother. "You mean with the four of us in different places, we'll cover more ground and have better chances of finding her?"

Mikey nodded.

Leo took his shell cell back out and called Donnie again. "Good idea."

* * *

"Now what?" Donnie picked up his shell cell.

Raph stopped and rolled his eyes. "We're never going to find her at this rate," He corrected himself. "Actually, it's all ready been a week, so..."

_"Mikey said the four of us should split up," Leo explained. "I think that would be a good idea. We'll cover more ground that way."_

"All right. Just split up anywhere we want?" Donnie asked.

_"Yeah, sure. If we run into each other, who cares? I just think this would be a faster way if we do find Jean." Leo replied._

"Okay. See ya," Donnie hung up his shell cell and looked over at Raph. "They want us to split up. Leo says we'll cover more ground that way."

Raph took out his sai blades and twirled them around in his fingers. "Fine by me! Bye!" He dashed off.

Donnie slowly raised his hand up to wave. "Uh, bye."

* * *

Leo was just walking around on the rooftops. He was careful that no one would see him, but he could get a better view from the streets up here. He figured Jean might be walking with or maybe even against the crowd. He sighed. It had all ready been a week and there was still no sign of her. Leo figured that they might never find her. He didn't want to believe something bad had happened to her, though. _She's fine,_ Leo thought to himself. _She's just like...like a ninja. _He shook his head. He couldn't believe he was saying something like that.

Then his shell cell rang. He should have just kept it out. The four of them have been on their shell cells all day together, so there was really no point to splitting up. "Hello, Donnie?" Leo picked it up, assuming it was going to be one of his brothers.

"Leonardo?" Master Splinter sounded frantic.

"Master Splinter?" Leo was shocked that he was calling. Especially with that panic in his voice. "Are you all right?"

"I am fine, Leonardo, but if you and your brothers do not get down here soon, I might not. I need some assistance." Master Splinter explained.

Leo nodded as if Master Splinter could see him. "Okay, I'll get them. What's going on?"

Master Splinter tried to tell him, but the shell cells broke up. Leo got a little bit of what Master Splinter was saying, however.

He began to dial Donnie's shell cell number.

_"Hello?" Donnie said in a sing-song voice._

"Call Raph! I'll call Mikey! We have to get back home fast!" Leo was all ready making his way into the sewers. "Master Splinter called, Foot ninjas have attacked the lair!"

* * *

Ann: Dun, dun, dun! LOL, okay thanks for reading and please review!


	19. Chapter 19

Ann: Thanks to PuldohFAN!, Eridani23, and xS.E.Raglandx for reviewing. Also, sorry for the lack of update in the past two days. My days got a little screwed up when I had to change a couple of my plans, but I'll try to continue to update everyday like I have been doing.

Chapter Nineteen

Leo hung up with Mikey over their shell cells and running through the sewers to get home. Why had the Foot decided to attack now? Did they somehow know that only Master Splinter was going to be home? This attack was totally random. He made it to the lair and burst open the doors.

_Master Splinter wasn't exaggerating over the phone when he said that there were thousands of them. _Leo thought to himself as he looked at all the Foot ninjas running around the lair. He drew his katanas out and leaped into battle to help Master Splinter. Leo paused before he jumped into the battle. _Where is Master Splinter? _He asked himself. He must have been getting attacked by a bunch of Foot ninjas at once. Leo ran into the battle, swiping his swords all over the place. He was determined to get these guys out of his house and find Master Splinter to make sure he was all right.

Donnie was the next one to make it back to the lair. Leo had left the doors open, so before Donnie got into the lair, he had taken out his Bo staff. He stopped short when he made it into the lair. He couldn't believe how many Foot ninjas were in there. _I don't think I've ever seen this many Foot ninjas in my life! _He exclaimed to himself.

His eyes searched for Master Splinter and to see if any of his brothers had made it back before him. There were too many Foot ninjas, however. All he could see was black. No green or brown. Donnie looked over his shoulder and noticed three Foot ninjas charging at him. _Great..._ He gripped his Bo staff as tightly as he could and stood in a fighting stance until they reached him. Then he joined the battle.

Mikey turned the corner in the sewers and saw the lair door. It was open and he saw a purple blur run by it with a couple of black blurs following him. He entered the lair with his weapons ready in his hands. He was swinging them and he looked around. He saw Donnie and Leo. No Raph or Master Splinter.

_Well, I'm not going to help Master Splinter and my brothers if I just stand here looking like I'm counting the Foot ninjas. _Mikey shrugged and swung his knunchucks in the air as he leaped into the battle to fight alongside his brothers and Master Splinter.

Raph poked his head into the lair. _That's a lot of Foot soldiers... _He thought to himself. He took his twin sai blades out of his belt pockets and twirled them in his three fingers on each hand.

He noticed all three of his brothers were all ready there and Master Splinter was obviously there, as well, fighting off the Foot ninjas. _Crud, I'm the last one here! _As a Foot ninja passed him, Raph jumped on top of him, with his Sais wide open.

Master Splinter kicked a Foot ninja off of him and searched around quickly for any of his sons. He saw Leo and quickly ran by his side. "Leonardo! Are your brothers here?"

Leo tossed a Foot ninja to the side and looked down at his father. "I don't know, Master Splinter. I called Donnie and Mikey and Donnie called Raph after you called me, but I'm not sure if any of them have actually shown--LOOK OUT!" Leo pointed behind Master Splinter.

Master Splinter, at the same time as Leo, pointed behind Leo shouting, and the two of them kicked a Foot ninja aside who was sneaking up on the other one. Master Splinter turned around and looked at his son. "Continue."

"Up." Leo finished.

Master Splinter nodded. "They must be here. They are quick. We will keep look out for them as we fight." Master Splinter charged back over to another Foot ninja.

Leo nodded to his father as Master Splinter ran away to attack. Leo turned around and did the same.

Mikey jumped over to Donnie and pulled a Foot ninja off of his brother. "Are you all right?" He asked.

Donnie stood up, nodding. "Yeah, thanks. Do you see Raph, Leo, or Master Splinter?"

Mikey shook his head. "Nope. I just saw you when I arrived."

Donnie kicked a ninja in the stomach, sending him flying backwards. "All right. We should probably try to look for them. There are too many Foot ninjas here. We're going to have to think of some plan to get them all out of here."

"Right," Mikey twirled one of his knunchucks in the air. "Piece of cake. Wanna go bowling?"

Donnie shrugged. "I think there are too many of them and with all of the Foot ninjas flying in the air, I doubt we'll have any luck finding Leo, Raph, or Master Splinter." he rejected Mikey's idea.

Mikey smiled. "Yeah, but Leo, Raph, and Master Splinter won't have trouble finding us."

Donnie kicked another Foot ninja out of the way and smiled back at Mikey. "That's true..."

Raph split kicked in the air, knocking two Foot ninjas out of the way. He twirled his sai blades in his fingers as he turned around to look for more Foot ninjas to kick. When he turned around, however, he noticed Foot ninjas getting shoved aside, some of them even jumping into the air. He raised an eyebrow as he noticed it was Mikey and Donnie locked in a double summersault together, tumbling through all the Foot ninjas.

He shrugged. "Weird," He whispered to himself. "But effective." He decided. Suddenly, a Foot ninja snuck up behind him and slashed at Raph with a different pair of twin sai blades.

"Whoa!" Raph ducked and quickly blocked the blow with his own pair of twin sai blades.

Leo and Master Splinter both paused along with the Foot ninjas that they were fighting and watched Donnie and Mikey bowl through the crowd of Foot ninjas. The two turned to each other and shrugged, knowing that it was working, and then began to continue fighting again.

Raph kept ducking and dodging a bunch of blows from this Foot ninja. Raph blocked one of his punches with his sai blades. The two pair of sai blades were locked. Raph pushed against the Foot ninja as the Foot ninja pushed back against Raph. Raph had the perfect opportunity to kick this guy in the stomach and make him go back flying, but he didn't.

Raph was taller than this Foot ninja, so he pushed his sai blades higher, making the Foot ninja fall backward, but he kept his balance.

Crying out of rage, the Foot ninja raised his sai blades and charged for Raph again.

Raph dodged the attack, and watched the Foot ninja run past him and stop to turn around and face him again. _There's something about the Foot ninja that reminds me of someone. _He thought to himself. He couldn't figure it out, though. How many people did him and his brothers know?

The Foot ninja rushed at Raph again, and Raph dodged once again, kicking to the ground.

The ninja groaned as he hit the ground, but got up immediately.

"Don't rush your opponent," Raph dictated. "You're not going to hit him if you do that."

The two of them began to circle each other. "Try again." Raph gestured for him to come over.

Shouting another battle cry, the Foot ninja charged at Raph again.

Raph dodged the blow again, but grabbed him so he wasn't able to move or go anywhere. "See? You rushed me again. You're not going to get any attacks in if you go too fast."

The Foot ninja wasn't listening to Raph, and he knew that. But he continued to give him a few pointers anywhere. He swung his foot backwards and kicked Raph in the shin.

Raph let him go and grabbed a hold on his knee. "See?" He groaned. "I wasn't expecting that. Good job." _Obviously, Shred-head decided to put this Foot ninja into battle a little too early. He doesn't seem to have much experience and practice in him. Although, _Raph watched the ninja prepare himself for the next attack. _He still reminds me of... _Raph ducked the next attack, and wasn't able to think anymore. He had to focus on what was going on outside his head.

"Nice try, but I can tell you're angry," Raph said, as he grabbed his fist when he tried to punch Raph in the face. "If you really want to hit me, you have to do two things. Don't rush me," He repeated. "And don't let your temper get in the way." He paused, still gripping the Foot ninja's fist. "Where have I heard...? Oh, great," He rolled his eyes, realizing where he heard that from. "I'm turning into Leo."

Using his other hand, the Foot ninja ignored the fact that Raph was talking to himself and attempted to punch Raph in the face again.

Raph let go on his other hand and ducked. "That was an okay try. You have to try to--"

"Shut up!" He called and rushed at Raph again.

Raph stood out of the way and grabbed his uniform from the back. He didn't want him running into any other Foot soldiers or one of his brothers or something. "You see again?" Raph rolled his eyes. This guy was not listening to him. Raph didn't blame him for not listening to his enemy, but it wasn't like Raph was lying to him or anything.

"You rushed me again. And you yelled at me. That's rushing and temper. You can't let that happen. You have to--"

"This isn't training Raph!" The Foot ninja turned around to face Raph.

Raph's eyes grew wide as he recognized the voice and realized who this Foot ninja reminded him of.

"This is a real battle!" She shouted.

Raph, not knowing how else this ninja would know his name, he panted heavily. "...Jean?"

The ninja unmasked herself and sure enough, it was Jean.

"Where did you...?" Raph was shocked. "How did...? When...?"

"You lied to me," Jean didn't feel like explaining it all. "All five of you did."

* * *

Ann: So, there you have it. Jean joined the Foot. And yes, I know. Another cliffie. Sorry about that. Anyway, thanks for reading and please review!


	20. Chapter 20

Ann: Thanks to anniewanny2, PuldohFAN!, Eridani23, dEaTh/tmnt, and xS.E.Raglandx for reviewing. :)

Chapter Twenty

Mikey threw a Foot ninja over his shoulder and looked around the crowd. Donnie seemed to disappear on him. That Bowling move worked really well. They could do it again, if only Mikey could find Donnie.

Although, Donnie wasn't the brother Mikey found. He twisted his neck around when he noticed a turtle, but then realized it was Raph. Mikey shrugged. _Maybe Raph will do it with me. _He pushed his way past a bunch of Foot ninjas, trying to keep his eyes on his brother, but Raph didn't seem to be moving.

_What is he doing? _Mikey raised an eyebrow. _He's going to get himself killed by a Foot ninja if he just stands there! _Mikey made it through the crowd, but a Foot ninja jumped on Mikey. As he fought him, he shouted to Raph.

"Raph! Wake up! In case you haven't..." Mikey grunted as he tossed the ninja to the side. "...Noticed, the lair is being attacked!" He punched another ninja in the face. "If you don't want your shell kicked, I suggest you start putting those sais to good use!"

Mikey threw the ninja into another Foot ninja who was coming to attack Mikey. He turned to Raph and glared at him. "Ra--" It was then he noticed he was looking at something. He looked pretty shocked, too. "Raph?" He said in his normal tone, confused.

He followed his brother's eyes and noticed him staring down a Foot ninja. Although, it wasn't a normal Foot ninja. It was...Jean! Mikey's eyes grew wide. _How can this be? What is she doing in that outfit? Why is she here? What happened? What's going on? How did she get down here? Is she supposed to be helping us fight? No, of course not. She's dressed up as a Foot ninja!_

Mikey walked over to Raph's side and slightly waved to Jean. "Um, hi," He said softly. Then he turned to Raph and yelled at him in a whisper. "What is going on here?!"

"What do you mean the five of us lied to you?" Raph was just as confused as Mikey, but he wasn't filling Mikey in on anything. Then again, he didn't really know what was going on, either.

"After I left you guys in the lair that night three weeks ago," Jean began to explain, but she kept her glowing gaze fixed on Raph. She seemed to ignore that Mikey was standing right next to him. "I found my father."

"Y-your father?" Raph echoed. "But...I thought he had disappeared. You told us that. Unless," He tried to glare back at Jean, but he was just too shocked to see her and yet happy at the same time. Although, he wasn't expecting her to be on Foot's side. "Did you lie to us about that too?"

Mikey didn't take his eyes off of Jean. He could tell Raph was confused and didn't seem to have a clue as to why Jean was there and why she wasn't on their side. He waited with Raph for a response from Jean. He hoped she hadn't lied to them again. Otherwise, he and his brothers might have fallen into a trap planned by the Foot. This wasn't exactly how he imagined their reunion with her.

Jean rolled her eyes. "Just because I lied about a couple of things..." She shook her head. "I told you that I wasn't lying about my father disappearing, didn't I? He really did disappear. He found me. And it turns out his didn't disappear. He ran away because he chose to. That's what I did."

Mikey paused. _Just because she lied about a couple of things? _He repeated. _I think it was a little more than a couple of things. _He finally took his eyes off of Jean and glanced over at Raph. He wanted to see how he was taking all of this in, because as far as Mikey was concerned, Mikey himself was still confused. And it looked like Raph was still confused as well.

"You ran away from us?" Raph asked slowly. He obviously knew that she left early, but he didn't think that it was because she ran away. After they saw her on the news still, he figured it was just because she didn't want to go back home. Now she was making it sound as if she wanted to get away from the turtles. "You ran away from us so you could join your father with the Foot?!" He temper began to rise.

"Raph, you don't understand," Jean sighed. "I didn't run away from you guys. I ran away because I didn't want you guys to make me go back home. And it's a good thing I did, too. Because now I was reunited with my father and now that I'm with him. I don't have to go back home to all that pain. I can stay with the Foot Clan with my father," She glared at both Mikey and Raph now. "And now I also know the truth about you guys!" She raised her voice because she knew that Raph was going to end up raising his own voice.

"The truth about us?" Mikey looked at Jean, then to Raph, and then back to Jean again. "What do you mean the truth about us? We gave you food and shelter. Your father is apart of a bad guy team and you make it sound as if we're the bad guys." He was too shocked and hurt to use technical terms.

Raph's gaze softened and he put a hand in front of Mikey's face to get him to be quiet. He could tell that Jean had been lied to by the Foot. Or worse, her father, who she trusted. "What truth about us? What did they tell you over there?"

Jean shook her head. "No. I'm not going to tell you what they said. Why should I? You two are just going to end up lying to me again." She stated, holding her sais up. She wanted to begin fighting again. Her father was one of the Foot ninjas in the crowd and if he saw her standing like this talking to them, he'd think that she betrayed him.

Mikey looked around the lair. He noticed that Jean was lifting her sais back up, getting ready to fight again. He didn't take out his knunchucks again, however, because Raph wasn't taking his sai blades out again. He didn't want to seem hostile to Jean. He looked around the lair because he noticed that Jean was looking around as well. Someone must have been watching her, wanting her to fight them again. _Her father maybe...? _Mikey was even more puzzled than he was before.

Raph put his hands up a little, showing her that he didn't want to fight her. He just didn't want her to think that they were the bad guys or something. "Look, Jean, I don't know what they told you over there..."

Jean glared at him and shook her head. "Raph, don't," She said. She didn't want him to say anything about the Foot or her father or anything like that. "Don't say anything," She said. "Just fight." She ordered.

Raph interrupted himself when Jean talked over him. "I don't want to fight," He began all over again. "I don't know what they told you over there, but whatever they said, they lied to you. You may think that they were telling you the truth about us, but you've actually lived with us. Think about it. Whatever they said about us, they must have been lying, right?" He backed away as Jean began to stalk towards him and Mikey.

Mikey backed away with Raph right by his side, not wanting to fight her. Although, he was using all his will power to not grab his knunchucks out of his belt. It was just habit. If someone began to walk towards him with a weapon, he took out his weapons. He nodded, however. "Raph's right. Listen to him. Whatever they told you, they were lying. Raph and I are telling the truth." He agreed with his brother, hoping that what they were saying to her would work, but he had a guess that it wasn't going to work.

Jean's glare hardened on the both of them as she lifted her sais higher above her head. "This is exactly what I'm talking about!" She snapped, putting her mask back on over her face again. "You're lying to me _again_!" She charged at the two of them, trying to hit Raph first, but Raph dodged and grabbed her wrist.

"Jean, stop!" He tried to calm her down. It was obvious that he and Mikey had made her even more angry at them than she all ready was before.

* * *

Donnie blocked a Foot ninja's attack with his bo staff and kicked him in the chest to make his go flying back. He backed up as another Foot ninja began to approach him, but his shell bumped into someone. He jumped and turned around, gripping his bo staff as tightly as he could.

Leo did the same thing, but he breathed a sigh of relief when he realized that his shell bumped into Donnie's. "Relax," Leo assured his brother. "It's just me."

Donnie shook his head. "Shell, Leo, don't scare me like that again," He turned around and tossed the Foot ninja that was coming towards him aside. "I all ready had that one to deal with and I thought you were another one trying to sneak up on me!"

Leo turned around and threw off another Foot ninja. "I thought you were another Foot ninja, too. I guess that means you should watch your back next time."

Donnie raised an eyebrow. "I should watch my back? How about I watch my back _and _you watch your back too, because this wasn't just my fault."

Leo shrugged. "Yeah, I know, I'm just saying," He kicked another Foot ninja in the chest, trying to keep them all away. "We have to find the others. There are too many here. I didn't think that there were this many Foot ninjas before."

"Have you seen any of them?" Donnie asked, punching a ninja in the face. "I've seen Mikey, but the two of us got lost in the crowd. I couldn't find him again after we got split up."

Leo nodded. "That's what happened to me and Master Splinter. We were trying to find you, Mikey, and Raph, but there were too many ninjas that we lost each other," He turned back around to face his brother. "Have you seen Raph at all?"

Donnie paused and turned around to face his brother as well. "Now that I think about it," He shook his head. "No. I haven't seen Raph at all this entire time we've been here."

Leo sighed. "Okay, this is going to take a while because I haven't see Raph at all either. You and I are going to have to try our best to stay close to each other, okay? We'll find Master Splinter, Mikey, and Raph and then the five of us will figure out what to do from there." He knocked two other Foot ninjas together in the head. He dropped them on the ground and turned around. "Donnie?"

Donnie was walking away. "Come here, Leo," He turned his head around motioning for his brother to follow him. Then he began to walk away again.

"Wait for me!" Leo jumped over a lying Foot soldier and ran to catch up with Donnie. "What are you doing? Where are we going?" He asked, looking behind them. He didn't want any Foot ninjas to sneak up on them.

"I found Mikey and Raph," Donnie pointed to where he could see his other two brothers. "And it's taking the two of them to fight off one Foot ninja." Donnie was confused. The Foot ninjas were easy to fight. "We should probably go over there and help them. Then we can go look for Master Splinter."

Leo nodded. "Go idea. Let's go!" He took his katana swords back off of his back and began to run towards his other two brothers to help them with this one Foot ninja. _This should be easy!_

Donnie gripped his bo staff in both of his hands and followed his older brother to help out Raph and Mikey. _How can they not fight off this one Foot ninja? It shouldn't have to take all four of us to defeat him. _Donnie paused. "Wait a minute..." He whispered to himself. He noticed that Raph and Mikey weren't even trying to fight this Foot ninja. They didn't even have their weapons out. They were just dodging him. _What are they...?_

Leo ran up to the Foot ninja and called out a battle cry. "Come on, Raph! Mikey!" He urged his brothers to fight harder than they all ready were because he too noticed that they were battling without their weapons.

Donnie decided to join in anyway. He had no idea what Raph and Mikey were planning on doing with this Foot ninja and why they were fighting him with their best effort, but he decided that he had to be beat, so he joined Leo with his bo staff out and ready.

Raph, Mikey, and Jean all paused. Neither one of them were expecting to see Leo and Donnie. And they defiantly weren't expecting the two of them to help out in this battle. There were too many Foot ninjas to battle and with all four of them battling Jean that meant Master Splinter was by himself battling the rest.

"Leo, no, don't!" Raph threw his hands up in the air to stop Leo, but Leo didn't look like he was going to be slowing down any time soon and he also didn't look like he was about to lower his weapons. He glanced down at Jean and even though she had her sais lifted to block him or do a counter attack or something; Raph couldn't let Leo attack Jean.

Raph stood in front of Jean and blocked her. "Leo, stop!"

Before it went through Leo's head that Raph wanted him to slow down and stop, he punched Raph in the face. Everyone seemed to pause and gasp Raph's head slowly turned to look at Leo.

"That. Hurt." Raph glared at his older brother.

Leo lowered his hand from his mouth. "I'm sorry...Are you okay?"

Raph took a deep breath, but finally nodded. "Yeah, I'm fine."

"What's going on?" Donnie asked Raph and Mikey. He knew something was up by the way thee two of them were barley fighting the Foot ninja and how Raph protected him, it was just...He couldn't explain it.

Mikey was the only one who replied to Donnie. He shrugged. "I may know more than you about what's going on right now, but I am still confused," He pointed to Raph. "Let him explain."

Donnie turned to Raph and waited for an explanation. Leo was waiting for one as well.

"Why are you protecting Foot Ninja Demon?" Leo pointed Jean, still not knowing who she was, but he gave her a little nickname anyway.

Raph shook his head and pulled off Jean's mask. "More like Foot Ninja Jean."

* * *

Ann: Yes, I know. Crappy place to end. Sorry about that. Thanks for reading and please review!


	21. Chapter 21

Ann: Thanks to xS.E.Raglandx, Eridani23, and PuldohFAN! for reviewing.

Chapter Twenty-one

Leo was shocked to see who was underneath that mask after Raph pulled it off of her head. "...Jean?" He finally spoke, not being able to find any other words to say.

Donnie was just as surprised as his brother. "But Jean," He stammered. "How did you find the Foot? Why did you join them? You should have come to us--"

"I should have come to you guys why?" Jean glared at him. "So you guys could fill my head with lies again?"

Donnie looked over at Leo with a worried expression. He had no idea what Jean was talking about.

"We never lied to you, Jean," Leo stated. He was still too shocked to speak. "I don't understand what you're talking about."

"Her father." Raph said.

"What?" Leo took his eyes off of Jean and looked at his brother. "Her father's--"

Mikey shook his head, knowing what Leo was going to say. "Joined the Foot." He finished.

Jean swiped her mask out of Raph's hands. "Now are we going to finish this battle or not?"

No one replied. Leo and Donnie were still confused about why she had joined the Foot, what she meant about how they lied to her and where her father came from since they thought he disappeared. Mikey couldn't believe how angry she was with them. The Foot must have told her something to make her feel this way. He didn't understand that she was still going through with this. Couldn't she tell that he and brothers felt bad and that they were telling her the truth? Didn't she know them by now?

"No." Raph finally spoke.

Jean raised an eyebrow. "No?"

Raph crossed his arms over his chest. "No. We're not going to finish this battle."

"Then I supposed to guys want to talk like you always do," Jean didn't give any of them a chance to reply. "Or are you guys surrendering?" She looked around the lair, not being able to see Master Splinter through the mess of Foot ninjas. "Because it looks as if you guys have all ready lost."

That's when Leo turned around and noticed that he wasn't able to see Master Splinter either. "Master Splinter?" He called out in worry and left Jean and his brothers. He knew that his brothers could handle Jean themselves.

"I'll go help him." Donnie looked worried as well as he eyes scanned the lair for his father and then he ran away, pushing Foot ninjas out of his way.

Mikey watched Leo and Donnie leave and then he turned back to Raph and Jean.

"Mikey, go help them find Master Splinter." Raph ordered.

"But--"

"Go help Master Splinter." Raph interrupted more firmly.

Mikey gave Raph a confused look as he began to back up a little. He didn't know what Raph was thinking and he also didn't know if Raph even knew what he was thinking.

"I got this," Raph reassured his brother. "Now go."

Mikey gave him a slight nod and ran away to go find his brothers and help them find their father.

Raph turned back and looked down at Jean. "Jean, we need to talk."

"Here we go..." She rolled her eyes.

Raph grabbed her arm and walked her over by the staircase. "We need to talk now.

"I don't want to talk!" Jean crossed her arms over her chest. She was being stubborn, as usual. "There's nothing to talk about. If you have a problem with me right now, battle it out." She lifted her sai blades in the air to begin another fight with Raph.

Without hesitation, Raph grabbed her sais out of her hands. "I gave you these sais, I can take them right back," He put them on one of the steps on the stairs. "I don't care if you don't want to talk, you're going to listen."

Jean glared at him and crossed her arms over her chest again, not knowing what else to do with them. "Fine. But make it quick."

Raph raised an eyebrow. "Why? You going somewhere?"

Jean rolled her eyes. "Come on, Raph. If you have something to say, then say it. Otherwise I'm going to--"

"You're going to what?" Raph interrupted her. "Are you going to get Daddy?"

Jean looked the other way, not wanting to make eye contact with him. "Raph, can we just let this go?"

Raph tried not to laugh. "You run away from us, join the Foot, and then attack our lair with the whole Clan accusing us of lying to you and you just want to let this go?" He shook his head. "No. We're not going to let this go. I want to know what happened."

"Nothing happened." Jean sighed out of annoyance.

"Obviously something happened. Who told you that we lied to you? What did they tell you about us?" Raph wanted to ask more questions, but he didn't want her to get even more angry with him than she all ready was. He hoped she would tell him and if she did, he hoped it was the truth. "And I want the truth." He decided to add.

Jean stared at the ground. She had always trusted the turtles before she met her father. Now, even when she wasn't on their side, the turtles still treated her the same way they always have. She was confused now more than ever. She took a deep breath. She decided she would tell Raph, but she wasn't sure who to trust anymore. "My dad told me what happened between you and Shredder." She thought about it more in her head. The way her father told the story made the turtles look like the bad guys. She looked up at Raph with pleading eyes. "How did that story go again?" She had a feeling that there were going to be two sides of the story.

"Now?" Raph asked surprised. She wanted him to tell her that story now while everyone was fighting in the background?

Jean nodded her head, trying to hold back tears from everything going on around her and in her head. "I don't know who to believe anymore." She whispered.

Raph made a funny face as he tried to figure out what she was talking about. However, he was suddenly picked up and thrown across the room.

Jean ducked as Raph flew over her head. She turned around and watched him make a hard thud on the floor and turned back around to see who threw him. "Daddy?" She didn't realize he was standing right there. Was he listening to them the entire time?

Jean's father ignored her and walked right over to Raph.

"What are you doing?" Jean became nervous. "Dad?" She called again when he didn't turn around.

Raph groaned as he pushed himself up onto his feet. He stood up, taking his sais out. He didn't notice a Foot ninja behind him, so he wasn't quit ready.

Raph turned around, with his sais ready, but he lost his balance when he received a punch in the face.

"Dad!" Jean shouted.

Ignoring his daughter once again, her father took Raph's sais out of his hands and tossed them to the side.

Jean watched Raph stand up. She knew he battled well without any weapons, but her father had a mace. This could get ugly.

Jean turned around and grabbed her two sais off of the stairs. She gripped them tightly in each hand and turned around and watched Raph trying to block her father's blows with his mace. She looked down at her sais. There was no way she was going to be able to defeat her father. Even with her sais.

She looked around for Leo, Donnie, Mikey, or Master Splinter. Maybe they'd be able to help. Although, when she found two out of the four of them, she were busy fighting off countless Foot ninjas. She looked back to Raph and her father and the two of them were still trying to hit each other while at the same time blocking the other's attacks.

Jean knew Raph wouldn't win without his sais and she knew that she wouldn't win alone with just her sais. She ran up to another Foot ninja and knocked him out, taking his sword. _Daddy taught me how to handle a sword. Although, I am better with sai blades, but I'm just going to have to deal with what I got!_

Jean ran up behind her dad and punched him in the back.

Unharmed, but confused, her father turned around. "Jean? What the...?"

Since he was distracted, Jean tossed Raph her sai blades. "Catch!" She yelled.

Raph caught her sais and stood on guard with one gripped in each hand.

Jean's father noticed the sai blades and turned back to Jean. "I'll deal with you later." He told her and threw her across the room like a doll.

"That's it!" Raph hated this guy. He put both sais in one hand and using his free hand, he punched Jean's father in the face, making him lose balance. Raph put the sais in each hand again and charged for her father, punching him again.

Jean knocked into Donnie. "Sorry!" She said.

Donnie paused. "Did you just say sorry to me?" He was puzzled because now she seemed like she was on their side.

Jean sighed. "Please, not now. Raph needs help."

Donnie looked over at Raph and he noticed him fighting one certain Foot ninja. "Okay!" He bolted away from the other Foot ninjas he was fighting and ran over to Raph's side.

Jean help the sword in her hand tightly. She felt useless holding it, however. She watched Donnie and Raph fight her father. They were defending her and her father just tossed her to the side like she was dirt. She looked down at the sword and then back to her father and the turtles. Donnie was thrown across the room and Raph was smashed into a wall.

Jean gripped the sword in both of her hands. She knew which side she was on now.

She ran up to her dad and punched him in the back again to get his attention.

"I said I'll deal with you later!" He snapped at her.

"We end this," She glared at him, pushing him away from Raph. "Now."

* * *

Ann: Yes, another cliffie. I'm sorry. I'm also sorry to say that the next chapter will be the last. T.T Anyway, thanks for reading and please review!


	22. Chapter 22

Ann: Thanks to xS.E.Raglandx and turtlegirl for reviewing. Well, sadly, here's the last chapter...

Chapter Twenty-two

Jean's father stared down hard at his daughter. "What do you mean 'we'?"

"You and me," Jean replied, not lifting her glare for a moment. "We battle. Now."

"Jean, what are you doing?" Raph asked, cautiously.

"Shush." Jean waved a hand at him to be quiet, though she still watched her father.

Her father, however, ignored Raph. "Where is this coming from? You know what the turtles did. You have to help me. You have to help the Foot. You have to battle _beside_ me. Not _against_ me!" He raised his voice at the last part.

"Not anymore," Jean stated. "You lied to me."

Her father pointed to Raph. "No, they are the ones who lied to you, Jean! I'm your father! Why would I lie to you?"

"Why would you walk out on us?" Jean shot back. "You left Mom. You left Tabitha, Melody...me. You left me, Dad. You left all of us. Why did you do it?"

"I didn't have a choice." Her father replied.

Jean raised an eyebrow. "Okay. So you didn't have a choice to join this Foot Clan. But what were you even doing by the Foot Clan's tower, huh?" She asked. "You still left by your own choice, didn't you?"

"Jean..." Her father whispered.

"Didn't you?" Jean pleaded, firmer.

Her father glared at her, but didn't seem to make any movement.

Raph took a step forward, just in case.

"Raph," Jean looked over at him. "I got this."

Raph was still watching her father. "Are you--"

"I'm positive," Jean answered his unfinished question. "Go help your brothers and Master Splinter."

Raph grabbed Jean's sais out of his belt as he slowly took a couple steps back to go help his brothers, but he was still watching Jean's father.

"Go." Jean ordered.

Raph looked at her and gave her nod, letting her know that if she needed help, he would be there. Then he turned around and began to fight other ninjas.

Jean watched Raph walk away and then she looked back at her father, gripping her sword in her hands tightly. "Are you ready?"

"To battle?" Her father was surprised that she was still going to go through with this.

She nodded. "I said that we're going to finish this. And that's what we're going to do."

Jean and her father began to circle around each other with Foot ninjas battling the turtles and Master Splinter in the background. She held onto her sword, ready in case he attacked first. And he held his mace, ready in case she attacked first.

"So," He broke the silence. "What happens if you win?"

"You and the Foot and the Shredder and whoever else is with you leave me and the turtles alone." Jean answered.

"And if I win?" Her father nodded at her response.

Jean took a deep breath. "I'll go back to the Foot with you."

He smiled. "Agreed." Then he lifted his mace above his head and charged at his daughter.

Jean's eyes grew wide. She expected her father to make the first move, but she didn't expect it to come too quickly. It was like Leo had always told her...

_Jean jabbed her sai to the left, but Leo dodged it. "Come on!" Jean was beginning to get frustrated. "Stay still!"_

_Leo laughed. "Now, if you ever get into a real battle, is that what you're going to say to your enemy?"_

_Jean shrugged with a smile, knowing that what she had just said was stupid, but she didn't care. "Maybe."_

_Leo stopped to catch his breath and laughed as he shook her head at her._

_"I mean come on, Leo," Jean stated. "When do you think I'll _ever_ be in an actual battle fighting for my life?" She joked, thinking that it would never happen._

_Leo shrugged. "True."_

_Jean seemed to blink and when she opened her eyes, Leo was gone. "...Leo?" She called out confused. Then she was pushed onto the floor and when she rolled over onto her back, she looked up and noticed Leo pushed her. "What was that for?"_

_"Expected the unexpected." Leo explained._

_Jean sighed. "That was totally random and so not what we were just talking about."_

_"Exactly." Leo smiled down at her as he helped her up._

Jean ducked the blow from her father and jumped back a bit, trying to get out of his reach. She couldn't seem to bring herself to fight back. This was her _father_. She listened to Leo's voice inside her head and tried to dodge every single attack her father threw at her.

Every attack Jean's father tried to hit her with, she dodged. Although she never hit back. How was she supposed to beat him in this battle if she wasn't getting any hits in? Correction: She wasn't _trying_ to get any hits in.

The truth was she was trying to get hits in. Her father was just too good for her. Then Mikey began to ring in her ears.

_"Okay, I'm going to teach you something cool today." Mikey walked over to her excitedly._

_Jean crossed her arms over her chest. "Like what? That 'bowling' attack that you and Donnie made up with each other the other day?" She laughed, thinking it was the dumbest attack she ever heard of._

_Mikey gave her a look. "Hey, that bowling attack is going to come in handy some day. You'll see."_

_Jean nodded, mocking him. "Yeah, I'll see..."_

_"Anyway, no, that's not what I was going to teach you today." Mikey went on._

_"Okay, then what are you teaching me today?" Jean replied._

_"The counter-attack attack." Mikey said._

_Jean snorted a little._

_"What?" Mikey asked._

_"Nothing," She shook her head. "You made it sound funny. Counter-attack attack. Shouldn't it just be counter attack?"_

_Mikey shrugged, knowing his tongue slipped up. "Does the name really count?"_

_Jean tried not to laugh again. "Well, if you and Donnie decided to name an attack 'bowling'...then, yeah. I think it counts."_

_Mikey smiled. "Okay, anyway..."_

_Jean rolled her eyes jokingly. "What is this attack?"_

_Mikey turned to her and shrugged like it was obvious. "What ever the enemy tries to do to you, you stop them and do the same to them."_

_"Yeah..." Jean mocked him. "And how do I do that exactly?"_

_Mikey stood across from her. "Here. I'll show you. Attack me."_

Jean jumped out of the way of her father again and quickly turned back around to watch for his next move. "Attack me..." She whispered to herself.

Her father ran at her and Jean grabbed his arms, twisted it back, and kicked him in the back, sending his flying back to where he just was. She paused as she watched her father get off of the floor. "It worked?" She asked herself quietly.

Her father stood up and wiped his mouth. He gave Jean a dirty look.

Jean took a deep breath. "Oh, God, it's not over yet."

Her father stared at her. He didn't seem like he was about to attack her again. Instead, he ran into the crowd of Foot ninjas.

Jean watched her father run, confused. Where was he going? Was he retreating? She stood in the same spot she was in feeling helpless. She had no idea what he was doing.

_"Watch your back."_

Jean made a confused face at the floor when Donnie's voice sounded in her head. She turned around and her father was standing right behind her. He grabbed her neck and pinned her to wall.

_"What?" Jean asked._

_"Watch your back. That's what we're learning." Donnie replied._

_"I know how to watch my back," Jean rolled her eyes. She looked back her and then looked back at Donnie with a smile. "See?"_

_Donnie shook his head. "It's a little more complicated than that, Jean."_

_"I know, I know." Jean said dryly._

_"Okay, so someone sneaks up behind you and pushes you. What do you do?" Donnie asked._

_"Is that all he does? Push you and you're lying on the floor? What if he tries to jump on top of you while you're on the ground? Which one do you want me to answer?" Jean responded._

_"Answer both." Donnie replied._

_Jean shrugged. "I don't know. You didn't go over this yet."_

_"We talked about this yesterday." Donnie stated._

_Jean moved her eyeballs around the room. "Oh...I mean the answer is...? Um..."_

_Donnie buried his face in his hands. "Okay, I'm going to tell you this again and I want you to listen this time."_

_Jean nodded._

_"If he just pushed you, you could quickly stand up and as you turn around, swing your fist and hit him. If he tried to jump on you while you were on the floor," Donnie explained. "Then you could kick him up in the air and over your head with your feet."_

_"What if he snuck up behind me and pinned me to a wall?" Jean wondered._

_Donnie raised an eyebrow._

_Jean shrugged. "I saw it in a movie once. Or twice...Actually, that kind of stuff happens in a lot of movies."_

_Donnie ignored her. "Anyway, if that happens. Kick them in the gut, I guess."_

Jean kicked her father in his stomach. He let go of her neck as he fell backward losing his balance and she fell to the floor, holding her neck. She was gasping for breath. _I'm sitting here trying not to hurt my own father and he chocks his daughter?! _She screamed to herself.

She slowly made herself stand up and she waited for her father to do something else to her.

He held his mace and began to laugh.

Jean's eyes grew wide. _Is he going to kill me? _She asked herself. Her father charged at her screaming a battle cry and she stepped back a bit, not knowing what to do.

_"Don't rush your enemy." Raph scolded._

_"Well," Jean panted from attacking Raph so much. "Do you want me to attack you or not? You could attack me, you know. You need to start pulling your own weight in this training session."_

_"Rushing your enemy is just going to make you exhausted and then you're not going to have any strength to attack or defend yourself." Raph explained._

Jean smiled at her father and realized an easy way to take him down. She dodged his mace and seemed to run around in circles as he father kept throwing punches and kicks at her. Every single one of them, she dodged. Then she noticed he seemed to slow down a bit. That's what she made her final blow.

She did the counter-attack and as he tried to punch her, she punched him in the eye and kicked him to the ground.

He watched her slowly walk over to him, but he stayed down.

_That was actually easier than I thought... _Jean said to herself. "I won, Dad." She said.

He smirked. "So now what? Are you going to kill me with your little sword?"

She looked down at her sword, forgetting that she had it. She never used it. She threw it down on the ground next to him. "No. I'm expecting you to keep our deal."

He stood up and glared at her. "Foot ninjas!" He called out. "Vanish!"

Jean looked around her as all the Foot ninjas disappeared out of the lair. She noticed Donnie, Mikey, Leo, Raph, and Master Splinter all standing next to each other. They were staring back at her. Jean took a deep breath. Everything that happened between her and her father that day seemed only a couple of seconds. However, it was a couple of hours.

Master Splinter gazed at Jean across the room with soft eyes. "It is over."

"It is," Jean smiled at her. "And I think it's time for me to go home now."

* * *

"Are you sure you want to do this?" Mikey didn't want her to home.

The five of them were in an alleyway across the street from Jean's house.

She nodded. "Yeah. I have to go home. I miss them and they miss me."

"What made you want to go home all of the sudden?" Donnie asked.

"I always wanted to go home." Jean replied.

"Then why did you run away?" Leo wondered.

"My dad was following me," Jean answered. "I wanted to keep my mother and sisters safe. You guys said you wanted to help me so I thought you would keep me safe from him."

"You knew your father was--" Raph began.

Jean shook her head. "I didn't know. He was following me. I didn't know who he was. He told me who he was when I got there and he also told me some bad things about you guys."

"Why didn't you just tell us that story in the beginning?" Leo asked.

Jean shrugged. "I guess the story sounded...weird."

Raph laughed. "We told you the story about four baby turtles and a rat mutating and you say your story is weird?"

"What kind of bad things?" Donnie asked, getting back to her father.

Jean smiled. "You guys always liked questions."

Leo laughed. "Okay, that will be our last one."

"Lies," Jean replied. "All of them were lies, so it doesn't even matter what they said or what they didn't say about you guys."

"Are you sure you have to go?" Mikey asked again.

Jean smiled at him. "You said that that other question was going to be the last one. You all ready asked me that and I all ready answered it," She frowned. "Goodbye Mikey. I'll miss you," She turned to the other three after she gave Mikey a hug. "I'll miss you all. Thank you...for everything. And I'm sorry...about everything."

Leo and Donnie each gave Jean a hug. She looked over to Raph.

"You know you want to hug me too." She smiled, teasing him.

Raph slowly walked over to her and wrapped his arms around her. "Bye, Jean."

"Bye, Raph." Jean tried to fight back tears. She pulled away from him and then she crossed the street to her house. She looked back at the turtles, nervously, but they were gone. She sighed and rang the doorbell.

Her sister opened it. "Yes?" Her eyes grew wide when she realized who she was. "Jean...?" She looked back. "Mom! Tabitha! Come quick! Jean's home!" She looked back down at Jean and gave her hugs and kisses. "Jean, where have you been? What happened to you?"

"It's okay, Melody," Jean smiled to be in her sister's arms. "I'm okay. I'm home. Finally."

Her mother and Tabitha came to the door and began to hug and kiss Jean as well. Then they went inside the house and closed the door.

Raph watched her go out of sight from the roof across the street.

Leo walked over to him. "She's gone, Raph." He said.

Raph nodded. "I know."

Mikey frowned. "I wish she didn't."

"She had to." Donnie shrugged.

Raph smiled. "We'll see her again. Let's go home."

* * *

Ann: Okay, kind of crappy ending, kind of not. I didn't know where to stop it. Anyway, that's it. Thanks for reading and especially thanks to all my reviewers! :) I'd list names, but if I accidentally forget somebody, I'll feel guilty, so you know who you are. Also, there is going to be a sequel. Only, it's going to be an epilogue, but it's more than one chapter, so...yeah. I also thought of another idea for a sequel with another plot and everything. I'm not sure if I should post that or not, so if you want a sequel, there's a poll for it on my profile. Or you just say so in your review. It doesn't matter. Thanks again!


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